AAPRIL 1995
PLO, BOX 17, MEXICO, INDIANA 46958
$5.00 / Issue $20 / Year
UPDATE COMPUTER SYSTEMS is
edited by Frank Davis and published by
Carol Davis of P.O. Box 17, Mexico, IN
46958 USA. The phone number is 317-
473-8031 for both voice and fax. Normal
hours for voice are 6 to 9 P.M. Tuesday
thru Saturday. Please use the answering
machine if we are not available, and leave
a short, concise message with both phone
number and address. The hours for faxing
are from 11 P.M. to 6 A.M. Monday thru
Sunday, and at other times if you let us
know that we have a fax coming. Most
answers to questions left on the machine
will be by mail, as long distance charges
are too costly for a small magazine to be
expected to bear.
Mailing date of the magazine: all issues
will be mailed out near the 20th of the
months of October, January, April, and
duly. All mailings within the USA are by
bulk mail and may take a few weeks to
reach you at the most. Those wishing to
have faster service may pay $4 extra for
First Class Mail. The present rate for North
America is $20 in US$; and 18 Pounds, or
40 DM in European currency, for a
subscription. All issue years run from
October to July of the next year, and those
who subscribe during a year will get all of
the issues for that year. In this way all
subscriptions begin and end at the same
time. Timely renewals are what keep us in
business!
Assistance in publishing this magazine is
provided by you the readers, many of
whom have contributed news, articles and
reviews. We offer you our heartfelt thanks.
We are mainly assisted by our longtime
friend, Eliad Wannum, Poet, Psychologist,
and Sinclair computer user. In addition,
regular contributors have been: Bill Cable,
Paul Holmgren, Al Feng, Don Lambert,
Bob Swoger, Abed Kahale, Peter Hale, A.
E. Green, to name just a few. We invite
you to submit material for publication to
UPDATE MAGAZINE. Please make all
hard copy (printed out) submissions Letter
or NLQ; no draft print, or 2040 thermal
print. The quality is too poor to print ina
readable manner, and we do not have the
spare time to re-type an article. If you do
not have a printer capable of this, then
send the article on disk to us as: 288, IBM,
QL, TS2068 in Oliger or Larken, or in an
Amiga file. We can handle these disk
formats. We can use 5.25 or 3.5 disks, in
DSDD, HD or ED densities. Send two
copies of hard copy. Do not submit stuff
on audio tape, as we no longer have tape
decks for the TS1000 or the TS2068. Try
to avoid flowery or hard to read fonts,
unless you are showing us sample output
from a printer reviewed or a program. If
artwork for an article is to be included,
please let us know in what order you think
it should be displayed. We can accept
articles over the fax.
Those wishing to place ads in UPDATE
MAGAZINE: We have two ways of
handling ads. ONE, we will do reciprocal
ads for other publications (generally on a
year for year basis) with both of us
exchanging copies of the issues the ads
are placed in. TWO, the other way, is to
purchase ad space from us, with the
following rates in effect for now: $15 per
quarter page; $25 per half page; and $40
per full page ad. This is per issue. For
inclusion in all four issues, you pay for
three issues in advance, and get the fourth
issue free. For two issues you pay full rate
for one ad, and get $5 off of the cost of the
second ad rate. Should you have ony
questions on this please contact Frank
Davis either by phone or mail, as listed
above. All checks should be made out to
UPDATE MAGAZINE.
We hope to be of service to you. Thank
you for your support.
TABLE OF CONTENTS for April 1995
The front cover for this edition was done courtesy of Abed Kahale of
CATUG.
inside page covers subscriptions, ad and article submission to UPDATE.
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Back
Covers
Thanks, Abed! This is a quarterly, user supported magazine. The
Directory
Editorial by Frank Davis
When Zero Isn't Zero by Bob Hartung
Repairing the TS2068 by Victor M.S. Acuna
RMG ad - Rod Gowen
A New Sinclair BBS by Tim Swenson
T/SNUG Information
Sinclairs and the World Wide Web by Tim Swenson
TS2068 ad by Mechanical Affinity
Reference Card for the 2X80, ZX81 & TS1000 (part 2)
Reference Guide for the TS2068 (part 1)
Use a Mouse on Any Hardware, Implementing the Mouse on a
280 System by Richard Rodman, submitted by Wm. DesLauriers
Wanted or For Sale - ads by subscribers to UPDATE!
Buying a Modem? by Abed Kahale
QBOX USA - ad
Computer Classics - ad
See You In Oak Ridge - Mechanical Affinity - QL ad
Archive Series Part 20: More on Linking Databases Together
and Using Sedit - Cable Column by Bill Cable
Querk - ad by Wood & Wind Computing
288 ad - Mechanical Affinity
IQLR - ad
The 3rd North American QL Show
QLuMSi v4.70 by Al Feng
News and Views on the QL by E. P. Wannum
Hardware For Your QL by Roy Arwood
Z88, Machine States from the Developers' Notes
Notebook Computer Light - ad (useful for Z88)
288, The Serial Interface from the Developers' Notes
288 & QL Source Books - ad
Timex Publications Index, part 3 by Paul Holmgren
-~ Information on Issue Disks for the QL & TS2068
EDITORIAL by Frank W. Davis
Carol has brought it to my attention that it is time for me to take computer keyboard in
hand and type out another vastly entertaining and educational editorial for your amusement. At
least this is how almost all authors hope their work will be taken. Be that as it may, here | go.
I try to offer a variety of articles, ads, reviews and news in each issue of UPDATE. 1
would like to have more reviews of programs. | seem to have run across a problem with that,
however. | have had several people offer to do reviews, so | sent programs to them. Months
later | do not have the reviews, yet | am out the copy of the program. | have never_had anyone
who ended up doing the review in the 12 times | have sent a program to someone to review.
The reviews we have carried over the last five years have been done by people who had
bought a copy of the program and either sent it in unsolicited or asked me in advance if |
wanted a review of a program. To those people, let me say "Thanks". | am at a loss as to what
to say about those who never carried thru for whatever reason. | do not want to say hurtful
things, just "to those 12 of you who | have over the years sent a copy of a program and never
received a review back from you, please note that you could still do so." No hard feelings on
my part, just amazement that it is those who have paid for a copy of a program who ended up
doing the review. Enough said on this subject.
Just for myself | feel that over the years | have come a long way with computers. In
4976 when | first started learning to repair what were called mini-computers in those days
(PD8s and PD11s) the idea of this much horsepower in the hands of so many was unthought
of. Even though the number of Sinclair users is not what it was ten years ago, | find that most
of us are quite familiar with what we have and are still interested in getting them to do more.
For those who use the TS1000, ZX81 and the TS1500, | have seen no new software out over
the last 4 years. | have seen a few articles on new uses and a few type-in programs as well as
repair hints. If you still ike using them, all | can say is stay with a user group, promote its
newsletier, and buy up extra programs, repair parts and hardware every time you get the
chance. They still have use left in them, but to put off a purchase may mean that you will never
get a chance at that particular item again.
Now for those of you who use the TS2068 we have a bit more movement on the scene.
If you have paid any attention at all fo the T/SNUG quarterly and fo UPDATE Magazine, you
will have seen this. At UPDATE we have given many of you ample opportunity fo get our Issue
Disks at a fair price to both us and the software author. They are usually worth the money. We
have seen improvements with an alternative operating system called Logical for the Larken.
This is to me the best improvement for the Larken system | have seen since it came out. Ask
Bob Swoger of CATUG (the software author), | was never pleased with having to use the
Larken system. Now | at least do not find if an objectionable task. Many people find that this
makes Larken the ideal system to use for their TS2068. | still prefer the Oliger disk drive
system, but not by a whole lot. I think that this has something to do with the fact that | had
been using the Oliger for about four years constantly when the Larken came out. | am very
comfortable with it.
Also for the TS2068, we have made information and programs available that allow you
to do some work with 24 pin printers, offered greatly improved versions of TASWORD 2, and
brought back a chance for those who tried to previously obtain Print Factory (DTP program) to
get what they had missed out on. We have also recently brought back the chance for you to
buy the Print Factory Graphics disks by John McMichael. We, as well as T/SNUG recently
published plans to give you the chance to build your own Larken dock board. This can give
2
you a home brew disk drive system for your TS2068.
We also try our best to let you know where you can get your computers repaired (such
as the Computer Classics ad). Add fo this the fact that we have usually had at least one type-in
program an issue for the TS2068, as well as the occasional one for the TS1000. | hope that
most of you feel we are doing a balanced job. It is not easy when trying to cover the TS1000,
Spectrum, TS2068, QL as well as the Z88. | often envy Bob Dyl, the publisher of IQLR, as he
has only one machine to devote all of his coverage to. Bob does a great job on keeping us up
to date on what is going on with the QL world wide. | believe he deserves more support from
North American users than he gets. The subscribers he has are good people and contributors;
| just think he deserves more North American subscribers.
1am not going to touch foo much here on what we have done with the QL; Eliad has
sent me a large enough article covering what is new or changed to handle that. Just allow me
to say two items.
One is that the QL has seen a lot of growth over the last couple of years in both
hardware and software. At its present rate of development, if kept up, it can still be made
comparable to the mainstream computers in use, and still offer us an easy to learn and use
multi-tasking system that is the envy of many other users, when they take the time to use it. My
personal opinion is that right now the only things lacking are: (1) SCSI Interface (2) a good
color scanner with software for graphics and OCR (3) software with a graphical interface
designed to use the Internet (4) VGA or better graphics, with at least 256 colors available.
The second item concerns the QL Issue Disks. Unlike the sale of those for the TS2068,
sales have been darn near non-existent for the last year. If there is no change in this by the
next issue, | will be dropping this for future issues. Perhaps that is because Paul Holmgren and
| offer so much software for the QL thru Mechanical Affinity that more of the users go that
route. Please do not make the mistake of thinking that these issue disks are of inferior quality;
they are really quite useful. As in all things in life, the choice is yours.
We have still not had as much coverage on the Z88 as | would like to see. We are
limited in this area by what is sent to us, and by the fact that there is still not a lot of
commercial software available here in the US for them. At Mechanical Affinity we have brought
in some new Z88 users recently by once again offering these fine machines for your public
consumption, as well as more peripherals (by the way if you recently bought a program and
cable to use the Z88 with your QL and it does not work, it is the cable....return it to one of us
and we will set it right). The best place to find some home grown software as well as
commercial for the 288 is to (1) buy a copy of the Z88 Source Book from us (you also get
software) (2) check with Mike Fink of Domino Cubes for his software offerings.
| hope | have not bored you with this editorial. It is not meant to be a cornplaint
department, just fo keep you up on what is good and to let you know about new products and
events. If something bad is mentioned, itis just to let you know the Sinclair scene as if looks
from here, as a dealer and as a magazine editor. We do this magazine as an act of affinity for
our users and readers, not to make money. There are not enough of you to make any decent
money doing this, but it is usually fun. | also particularly like the computer shows. | want to see
as many of you as | can at the QL show in Oak Ridge, TN in June, and at the Dayton
Computertest at the end of August. Let us all get together and have fun and share information.
OAK RIDGE HO!!!
3
When Zero Isn’t Zero
Bob Hartung, 2416 N. County Line Road E., Huntertown, IN 46748
The problem posed by Basil Wentworth
(January UPDATE, p. 22) seems to
point to a glitch in the floating point al-
gorithm used by Sir Clive -- shades of In-
tel Pentium! I first became aware of it
shortly after the TS2068 came out, but I
presume it also existed in the ZX81
ROM L[ installed in my ZX80, as it does
in the Spectrum and QL ROMs. I found
that a program branch which depended
upon a zero difference between a calcu-
lated mixed decimal value and its integer
was erratic. It only worked when .00001
was added to the calculated value before
the <=0 branching test was applied.
In the listing to the right, this compensa-
tion is done in line 150 of Basil’s demo.
The two right columns of the printout
show this produces the desired result.
The left column printout shows why the
calculations of the variable pg in lines
150 and 250 do not produce a true zero
as they should at every tenth result of 0.1
being summed ten times. In fact, repeti-
tion of the error and round-dowan cause
greater divergency each time a calcula-
tion is based on the one preceding it.
Compensating with +.00001 also pro-
duces a divergency, but since it is posi-
tive instead of negative, truncation of
the calculated values to two decimal
places will produce an expected zero re-
sult enough times for most practical pur-
poses. STR$ and VAL (missing on the
QL) may be used for this on the TS2068:
LET d$=STR$ n1
IF LEN d$<4 THEN LET d$=d$+".00"
LET n2=VAL d$( TO 4)
QL coercion allows this method:
dg$=n1
IF LEN(d$)<4
n2=d$(1 TO 4)
A similar error also is produced by the
floating point algorithm used by Intel
processors preceding the Pentium, but
<4 THEN d$=d$ & “.00"
since the divergency is positive rather
than negative, an approximation of zero
at the expected places is produced simi-
lar to the one demonstrated below. This
can be shown in both the GW-Basic and
QBasic programs included with Micro-
soft DOS. Interestingly, spreadsheets
such as Abacus for the QL and Quattro
Pro 5.0 for DOS handle repeated float-
ing point-integer calculations correctly.
TS2068 DEMO LISTING
10 PRINT “Left column_shows no
n-zero sums of pg+.1-INT pg. Ri
ght columns show compensation of
page+.00001"'*
100 LET pages I: LET pg=1
110 FOR f=1 TO 60
130 REM .00001 added to page in
line 150
150 un page=page+.1+.00001: LE
T pg=pg+.1
160 LET panel=page-INT page
165 LET panel=.1*INT (10*panel)
ieee PRINT pg-INT pg;TAB 16;INT
age+pane) j TAB 24; panel
000 NEXT F
Regarding a "glitch" of another sort,
during the past year my responsibilities
as chaplain for a county jail and sheriff
department, plus trying to pretend I was
a hard-hat construction worker while
helping my brother build a Quonset-type
machinery storage barn, greatly curtailed
the time available for computer-surfing.
I’m not complaining but, in fact, am glad
that at +70 (non-floating point!) years I
could still climb a scaffold and tighten
about 8000 bolts. However, during that
time I discovered that both disk drives
for my TS2068 as well as the two for my
QL had become ill and were corrupting
disks whenever a write was attempted.
Fortunately, I can now access my back-
ups, thanks to Dan Elliott having re-
placement drives, although I still need
time to restore everything. The moral is
backup, backup, backup! By the way, if
your floppy drives are repairable, ISR in
Leander, TX, does an excellent job at a
reasonable cost, phone (800) 458-6778.
Victor M.S. Acuia
Buenos Aires, October 16, 1993
UPDATE MAGAZINE
P.O. BOX 1095
Peru, Indiana
USA
Dear Frank:
I am sending my subscription fee ¢( in cash because I must pay
$ 1@. plus, for a check), and a few tech. notes about my circuits
in repairing TS-2@68's.
Some words about my curriculum: I am a Superior Electronics
Technician ( a tertiary level grade), and actually I am a student
at C1E (Cleveland Institute of Electronics), in Electronies
Engineering course. I work since 1986 in the computers field, and
really I am an expert in repairing TSs.
The topics I send in this letter are over repairings of SCLD
Ic. Evidently the troubles generator in the TSs is the SCLD IC. In
the service shop I encountered that about 69% of TS’s fails are
over it, and like it change cost about $ 38.- ( I have until many
of them, and I did a special iron to remove them), when the price
of the machine began to fall, an option was design circuits
specifically to repair parts of it. Now a working TS 2068 cost
around $ 5@. And the TS repair market, practically don’t exist.
The total number of machines imported to my country was around
5,082.
Principally, the SCLD problems are:
1) No Interrupts ( every ~“17ms) from SCLD to CPU, and then “no
keyboard” fail.
2) One or more rows of keyboard not work. SCLD not read or
it’s data lines are “open”.
3) No cassette. Not read data from the cassette player.
4) The refresh circuit build into the SCLD for the high memory
bank ( 32,768-65,535) A7R don’t work. The machine initialize, but
the programs crash. THIS IS THE MOST “DESTRUCTIVE” FAIL, and
commonly only reparable by changing the SCLD. Yes it’s my great
discovery !!! Thanks, thanks,.......
1) The SCLD provide, via INT signal (Pin 16 280) the signal
necessary to scan the keyboard. This signal are generated in every
field of the screen ( 1/6@th sec.). But if it aren’t, the CPU
never read the keyboard. More explain about it are in the
Technical Manual. Originaly, I tested taking the signal from
vertical synchronism, but it don’t work well. Then I designed a
circuit from a 555 timer, and it worked O.K. The circuit is:
+5V
470k output signa
7 me
220R
To pn 16 CPU
AT ne
+4
2) If the keyboard fail only in some rows, and one are sure
that the problem is in the data lines, ( via oscilloscope level
test, for example) and not in the keys itself. Then the solution
are build a circuit that overlap the SCLD keyboard circuit
To remember you, the keyboard use D@ to D4 to scan the KB@ to KB4
lines, in the port 254. This correspond to AM = @. Then the
circuit is:
45V KEYS COLUMNS PATA LINES
Brk - ON- Cap. KbO - DO
0 Sym - 9/2-Z Kbl - DI
13. TOCORRESPONDENT M = - O/3- X Kb2 - D2
DATA LINE (DO-D4, = -N - 7/4 - C Kb3 - D3
Ao 2. . O - 6/5 -V Kb4 - D4
FROM KEYBOARD Kb “deaa’ line.
3) The cassette input view from CPU is the same port that
the keyboard, but in the D6 bit. All we need to do, is amplify the
audio input, decode the 254 port, and accouple it to D6. Then a
“dead" cassette TS come to work. The cireuit is:
AORQ
3x INtHB
IRD
AO
To pin 15 SCLD
comect the
input signal B10 SCLD pn 60
to this pont.
(Cut if necesar
: ee
(or 7419125)
EXTRA :Like some TSs are more deaf than others, and in general
all are “hard” to ear ( Sure I designed, sold, and made money with
a signal improver, LG-@2), seeing in the cassette input, Timex put
only two diodes to ground -CR25/26- (I don’t know why, only two),
for bias the input SCLD circuit, to protect the input electronics,
and to conform the input signal. The solution I encountered, was
to add one diode in series between them. Commonly I desolded one
extreme of one diode and add one more between it and the hole in
the board, - remember in the same direction -. Conclusion: with
three diodes my TS become an excellent machine !!!
co RR ear
Re
CR 25 ADDED DIODE 1N4148
~<I>-d>
<0
a
AFTER ME BEFORE ME
4) The refresh problem was hard to find in the beginning, but
with an oscilloscope and understanding of memory and Z8@ devices,
finally I win. The TMS 4416 was a new chip when it was used in the
design of the TS2068. And been the 280 the best 8 bits micro, than
that it have inside, the refresh counter necessary to maintain the
data in the dynamic memories, the combination was perfect. But
when it was designed, only seven bits was used for this counter.
It’s O.K. for 4116, 4164 family (it’s need only seven bits for
refresh all cells), but in the "new" 4416 family eigth bit was
needed. In the low memory block, the constantly reading to form
the video, make the necesary refresh reading. But in the high
memory block the SCLD make the eighth bit necessary for a complete
refresh cycle (the A7R). When it fails, the machine can’t maintain
it’s data integrity, and crash.
The first thing to do is confirm that the problem is this, I
made a little program that display this problem in the form of
lost UDG data, simply making all bits set in UDG, the lost
information are see like white dots in them.
First input this program line:
16 PRINT “ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTU" ¢ all letters in UDG mode)
Then input this command line:
FOR A = UbG "A" TO UDG “U": POKE A,255: NEXT A (ENTER & RUN)
Now all Jetters must be black boxes, and in the upper left side of
the screen you can see a coarse black line, 21 characters long.
Every time you type RUN and ENTER you refresh the display area,
tacking the UDG information from its original address ( high
memory block). Running a program every minute, if you can see how
the white spots come to appear, you machine have the refresh
problem !!!
Second build and install the next circuit:
ADDRESS 7 GENERATOR
OUTPUT A7R
TOPN2/3 Un for 280 CPU
(CUT SIGNAL FROM SCLD) @ 1989 VEL Argentina
V2 74L567
The circuits given represent hours of high tech. research,
they are copyrighted to my mind. I send they to you for a help in
yours troubles, (and for my TS’s USA folks, of course). You should
not use them commercially, without my acceptation.
RMG
Supports
Sinclair / Timex
Users!
Send legal 3.4.5.E. with request for price
sheet. Specify model interest. Send $4 for
GIANT GIFT catalog. (Includes ALL price
lists) Phone or FAX for information on
prices and availability.
Mail to:
Oregon City, OR. 97045
500/655-7484 * FAX 503/655-4116
A New Sinclair BBS
By Tim Swenson
Bob Newell of Bismark, North Dakota, has started a BBS called
"GlobberNet" that specializes in computer games, including
Spectrum Games.
Bob has over 1200 Spectrum Snapshot (.SNA) files available
for download. These snapshot files are supported by the
Spectrum (on a Spectrum disk) and by various Spectrum
emulators. Bob also has a few of the Spectrum emulators
available.
As Bob says, "GlobberNet is 100 percent a free service, with
no catch or trick. Verified users get 45 minutes and 2.5
Megs of download per day with no download ratios; regular
uploaders and helpers get more time and bytes. No money or
compensation is ever accepted for any reason."
Since the legal status of old Spectrum games in SNA form is
not quite ironed out, Bob has decided to steer clear of any
problems by not charging for downloading. Since almost all
Spectrum programs are no longer being sold by the software
houses, Bob is under the impression that these software
houses have not objected to non-profit distribution of these
programs. Bob is not the only person making these programs
available. The FTP site in Norway is the primary storage
site for them.
Besides the Spectrum files, GlobberNet has other classic
games, text adventures, and some online games.
The Specs for GlobberNet are: 701-222-0429, 8nl1, 1200-14400
/V.32, VT100 emulation, a "rocat" Linux BBS, 24 hrs/7 days, a
single line.
Bob is also available on the Internet at bnewell@delphi.com.
QLauacker's Journal QLihacker's Journal
Supporting All QL Programmers Supporting Ail QL Programmers
Timothy C. Swenson, Editor Timothy C. Swenson, Editor
5615 Botkins Rd 5615 Botkins Rd
Huber Heights, OH 45424 Huber Heights, OH 45424
(513) 233-2178 (513) 233-2178
swensotc@p2 ams wpafp af mil swensotc@p2.ams wpafb af mil
T/SNUG Information
| T/SNUG | ZXir QLive Alive! ;
cot HE NG) newer of Article
wish to support the following SIGe:- ZX-| T/SNUG. the TimewSinclair
80/81. TS-1000, SPECTRUM. TS.
2068, TC.2068, 288 and QL. If you
have any questions about any of thete
fine machines, contact the:
Chairman
Chief Motivator
Donald S. Lambert (ISTUG)
Vice-Chairmen
Tape & JLO PD Library
D.G. Smith
R415 Stone St.
Johnstown, PA 15906
814 535-6998
Z88 Library
Dave Bennett (HATSUG)
329 Walton St. Rear
Lemoyne, PA 17045
NT 774-7531
ZX-81 PD Tape Library
Ed Snow
2136 Churchill Downs Cir.
Orlando, FL 32825
407 380-5124
RMG Enterprises
Rod Gowen (CCATS)
14784 S. Quail Grove Cir.
Oregon City, OR 97045
503 655-7484 FAX 503 655-4116
TS-2068
Rod Humphreys (VSUG)
10984 Collins PI.
Delta, BC VAC 7E6 Canada
604 583-2819
QL PD Library
John Donaldson (CATUG)
835 Foxwood Cir.
Geneva, IL 60134-1631
708 232-6147
BBS — GATOR
Bob Swoger (CATUG)
613 Parkside Cur.
Streawood, IL 60107-1647
708 837-7957 Work 708 576-8068
Editor/Treasurer
LarKen PD Library
Abed Kahale (CATUG)
335 W. Newport Rd.
Hoffman Estates, IL 60195-3106
North American User Groups,
providing news and soitware
support to the T/S community
ina volume of four newsletters
per year; beginning with the
Spring (March) issue.
T/SNUG’s main goal is
to keep our Magazine,
our vendors and our
repair service alive for
the benefit of T/S users.
These valuable services shall
have free advertising space in this
user supported Newsletter that
they can see that we are still active
out here. We must support their
services whenever possible.
Another T/SNUG goal is to
unearth titles of all known Public
Domain and commercial software
available for all TimewSinclair
machines, building a library and
providing lists of that software
showing both the source and the
availability.
If you feel T/SNUG should
perform other tasks, let us know
your feelings. If you have solved a
problem in one of your software or
hardware, please share it with the
rest of us.
As of March 1, 1995, we have a
balance of $507.35
ou can keep T/SNUG
eB alive by an annual con-
tribution of $12 for one
volume made payable to Abed
Kahale. Send check to:-
ABED KAHALE
335 W NEWPORT RD
HOFFMAN ESTATES IL 60195-3106
Phone:- 708 885-4337
Back Newsletter copies are
available for $0.50 each
postpaid.
Contributions
S= in your articles by tape
or disk and your inputs to:-
DON LAMBERT
ZXir QLive ALive! Newsletter
1301 KIBLINGER PL
AUBURN IN 46706-3010
Phone 219 925-1372
Or by hardcopy to:— Abed Kahale.
GATOR’s
TWISTED PAIR
We have a 24 hour BBS and
enoourage you to exchange mail and
contribute to the Upload Section. Use it and
have fun!! (8N1 300-2400 BAUD)
Call 708 632-5558
and Register using your first name, last
name and phone number along with a
password you won't forget, and Write It
Down! Do not try to do anything else this
first time because all the board options will
be locked-out.
When you call-in the next time, you
will have Level 5 secunty and be able to
enjoy full user privileges. The BBS has
smaller sections called conferences. Select
“J” for “Join a Conference” to see the
different user groups. Select “TIMEX” to
get into the Sinclair Section. The mail you
then read will only be from other TIMEX
Sinclair users but all SIGs share the same
bulletins. Use extension .ART for articles,
ADS for ads and NWS for news when
uploading.
For help, contact the SYSOP by
leaving a message, mail, e-mail or phone.
Bob Swoger — SYSOP
ATOR==-~
You may freely copy any of the
material in this Newsletter but, please
credit the author's)
Sinclairs and the World Wide Web
By Tim Swenson
The World Wide Web (WWW) is one of the applications making
the Internet into a hot item. WWW is composed on two items,
a server and a client. The server takes requests from the
client (from across the network) and send the information
back to the client. Server software is available for a
variety of platforms (Unix, Windows NT, OS/2, etc). Two
clients are popular, Mosaic and Netscape.
World Wide Web supports text, graphics, and hyperlinks.
Hyperlink is the ability to click on a highlighted word and
branch off to another page of information. It functions like
a menu system, but with a lot more flexability.
Well, the World Wide Web has hit the Sinclair world. No,
there are no server or client software for any Sinclair
computers, but there are a number of web servers (Home Pages)
dedicated to Sinclair computers.
Chris Owen of England has created two of the best Sinclair
Home Pages.
http: //sable.ox.ac.uk/~tr95006/sinclairtop.html
http: //sable.ox.ac.uk/~tr95006/sincover.html
Both cover the same basic information, but the second one is
more graphical with lots of 256 color pictures. The sections
are:
The Man and the Company
The Machines
The Software Industry
The Magazines
The Virtual Spectrum
The Man and the Company covers information about Sir Clive
Sinclair and Sinclair Research Ltd. It has as_ short life
story with two early pictures of hin. It even has the text
of an address he have to Congress in 1984. I did not even
know he spoke before Congress.
The Machines covers most of the stuff that Sinclair has
created. The Sofware Industry documents a few Spectrum
software houses. The Magazines touches on mostly Spectrun
magazines. The Virtual Spectrum provides links to other
Spectrum Home Pages and to Spectrum emulators.
Most of the information on each section is only a _ small
portion of the total data available on Sinclair machines.
Some articles are taken from the trade press. The graphical
layout of these home pages makes them worth looking at.
Another interesting Home Page is the ZX81 Home Page:
http: //www.maths.nott.ac.uk/personal/cpg/zx81
This is a home page dedicated solely to the ZX81 and it’s
emulators. It briefly touches on the history of the Zx81,
it’s technical details, a "touching personal story", anda
short listing of stuff on the net. It has links to 4 2x81
114
emulators (two for MS-DOS, one for the QL, and one for the
Atari ST).
You are not going to find much information at these home
pages that you don’t know already. But, they are just
starting and should expand in the future.
All creators of Sinclair WWW Home Pages are doing this for
free. Some do it for the limited fame it brings (this
Internet fame can become real big sometimes). Others like to
produce something usefull and great looking, and then share
it with the world. Of course, the neat thing about the
Internet and with World Wide Web, is the low cost of
distribution.
MECHANICAL
AFFINITY Sy
is the place all of t
these people are
going to find what
they need for their
TS2068 & TS1000
Computers.
We will soon be out of
the last of our
TS2068s, and this may
be (other than the odd
one or two showing up
occasionally) your last
chance to get one, or to
get a backup TS2068.
When they are all gone, that is it. If you have been putting this ‘off till later'’, it could be
too late by then. The price is $55, and includes (a) TS2068 Computer with power supply
(b) TS2040 Thermal Printer with 3 rolls of paper (c) four TS2068 computer programs on
tape (d) one book on programming the TS2068. The programs and the book are of our
choosing, so please do not ask for certain ones. We are emptying out as much of this as we
can to make room for new items.
MECHANICAL AFFINITY MECHANICAL AFFINITY
513 EAST MAIN ST. 5231 WILTON WOOD CT.
PERU, IN 46970 INDIANAPOLIS, IN 46254
317-473-8031 317-291-6002
Please only phone during the times listed, TUES thru SATURDAY, 5-9
P.M. Make all checks or money orders out to F. Davis or P. Holmgren.
We will ship C.O.D., and such orders may be faxed at 317-472-0783
during the hours of 11 PM to 7 AM Standard time.
12
BASIC SPECIAL CHARACTERS AND OPERATORS.
~~ ‘Suppress tab after PRINT
Tab to next column after PRINT
Tab to next line after PRINT
Double-quote char ina string
Character'string deiimiter
Identifies character-stnng variable. (A$)
Identifies a numeric variable (A)
‘Scientific notation. (1.7E38)
Denotes priority in order of operations
Equal or assignment.
Addition, concatenation,
Subtraction or minus sign.
Multplication.
Exponentiation.
Division
Greater than
Less than
Greater than or equal to
Less than or equal to.
Not equal.
Reverses true/taise result.
If both expr are true, result is true
If either or both expr are true, result is tue
S0@lase*
True
False
Jersol salen nselt i eaiy-emlumae eS
on
jenaso
SCREENLAYOUT
DISPLACEMENT} [une DISPLACEMENT!
o 12
33 13
74 HOME GRAPHICS
75 EDIT EOIT
76 NEWLINE ENTER
7?_RUBOUT DELETE
“UL mode
FUNCTION,
SXRBRABVRBlseiggiegis
N<x3{/<c40ln0v0/zzrale-xrol amool|mrealwous
N<x2|<c40/20v0/zErxlc-szolnmoo|m>col|waun
ZX80 ONLY + 16-26. 64-212 Not available trom keyboard.
5
DEC HEX 2x80 2X81 DEC HEX Zx80_Zxat
2X61 - SELECTED ROM CALLS
TO USE, POKE BYTES INTO ANY SAFE RAM, AND CALL VIAUSR FUNC.
TION (LET A=USR(addr)). RESULTS RETURNED AS FUNCTION VALUE,
AND IN BC REGISTER,
TO SCAN KEYBOARD FASTER THAN INKEYS
DEC CODE
205 1872 CALL 028BH
124 LD AH
198 2 ADD A2
569 JR C,+9
68 LO BH
7 WCL
CD BD 07 205 1897 CALL 0780H
06 00 60 LD BO
4eE 78 LD C(HL)
0s 216 RET C
01 00 00 100 LD BCO
cy 201 RET
TO MOVE CURSOR TO A ROW, COLUMN
01 clrw Tdiw LD BC.row cot
CD F5 08 205 2458 CALL 08F 5H
co 201 RET
TO OUTPUT A CHARACTER TO SCREEN
62 nn LO Avnn (nn=character)
215 RST 0010H
201 RET
CHARACTER STRING TO SCREEN
11 dd dd 17 dd dd LD DE.addr of string (low byte first)
01 ad dd 1 dd od LD BCiength of string (low byte first)
CO 68 OB 205 107 11 CALL OB6BH
ca 201 RET
To PLOT
01 xy 1x yy LD BC yx
3E 9B 62 155 LD A.9BH
CO 82 08 205 178 11 CALL 0BB2H
ce 201 RET
TOUNPLOT
Tox yy LO BC yyxx
62 160 LO A,AQH
205 178 11 CALL 0862H
201 RET
TO SET “FAST”
205 32 15 CALL OF 20H
201 RET
TO SET ‘SLOW’
2054015 CALL OF 28H
201 RET
REM RETURN
COPY
REFERENCE GUIDE NOTATIONS AND
FORMAT CONVENTIONS
This reterence guae employs a standard scheme for presenting the general format of BASIC
‘statements. The capitalization. punciuation and otner conventions are listed below:
11) Brackets indicate that he enciosed items Line number A line number is mpied for all
ate optional, Brackets ao net appear in BASIC language statements entered in
the actual statements. program mode,
1 Braces mncicate thal a choee of one ct Punctuation All punctuation characters,
welding commas, seracsions, colons,
‘quotation marks, and parentheses must
appear as indicated
Tay De repealed. £hoes co not apes! UPPERCASE Unpercase latars and words
‘must appear exacty as indicalea
PROGRAM Statements) entered wih line
‘numbers wil De executed by RUN and
ENTER in numencal order
mode
BASIC STATEMENT FORMAT
al mes of 32 characters pe: line to include the ine
Mode format:
Program Mode form
moet { statement
J
GENERIC TERMS, ABBREVIATIONS
AND DEFINITIONS
GENERIC TERMS, ABBREVIATIONS AND DEFINTIONS. (continued)
Tespect tothe lef-nand cow of the screen
The specified vaiue must be between @ and 255,
CURSOR DISPLAY MODES
[3 Keywors toxen) mode: echoates hat ne
ea)ca)ca)ea Relea |e =
TIMEX SINCLAIR 2008
KEYBOARD
meron ==]
DATA ENTRY
DATA ENTRY (continued)
GRAPHIC SYMBOL The graone symaos on symbol fo be dislaye. Ext grapnics
the number keys
DATA ENTRY AND CURSOR DISPLAY MODES
Press rumere Keys)
OPERATION BATA ENTEREDIMODE EPFEGT RESULTWa i
Unoercase etter
Getter mese
|
|
|
|
|
_Exiences Press SYMBOL SHIFT
Saaey
@Emencec Press CAPS SHIFT ane
SYMBOL SHIFT
DISPLAY INDICATORS
|
i
|
|
| Report A code that reports success oF failure
(opr oF cunent koe worn a6 brea tates
|
| (Sesswten
i
(CAPS SHIFT and 2
CAPS SHIFT and 3
CAPS SHIT anc 4
CAPS SHIFT ara 5
semen
VARIABLE NAMING CONVENTIONS
[.expinm |)
7
expmnig})
NUMERIC ARRAY format
ARITHMETIC OPERATORS
4 0
3 a 9 -8
* a 8 AB
’ v ® 8
+ K 5 ASB
= 4 6 ARB
. ‘ 5 A=B
<> w 5 Ace
< a 5 Ree
<= ° 5 Ae=B
> 1 5 ADB
> E 5 A>=B
BOOLEAN
Logical complement
Loca! AND
Loge OR
Siicing Cotains a sub:
Format: expr$
Example: “ABCDE!
Concatenation Joins jog)
Format: expi8 + exorSy
STRING AND NUMBER VALUED BOOLEAN RELATIONS
{ XB ANDY" Sys
CASSETTE OPERATIONS
PROGRAM LOADING PROGRAM SAVING
rewound to the beginning of
program.
2 Make sure botn recorder & | 3.
‘computer are EAR to EAR,
3. Press LOAD " "or LOAD
Computer delays message
“Start tape then press any
ey.”
Program Loading {cont'd) Program Saving (cont'd)
instructions when leading | 5 Start ihe recoraer on
RECORD and PLAY then
completed successtuly
Stop recoroer
Prass RUN and ENTER to
execute progam it program |
|S not specited 10 run i
automatically lr
keyboard
press any Key on the.
6. Receve report cove @ OK,
1 on seraen when sawing | 4
successtully competed. | 5,
Stop recorder 6
TIMEX COMMAND:
CARTRIDGE™ OPERATIONS
Turn off the T'S 2068,
Cartridge door.
Turn on the T/S 2068,
‘The program will begin
SYSTEM COMMANDS
These commaras
mands are normally
bretiung tne commana
number
BREAK Can ve used as a space tat for
editing or 10 suspend program execution
Resume execution by pressing SPACE bar or
CONT.
Format, BREAK
Note” BREAK only works when the program is
the tep 22 tines
attached, other:
Copyright ‘© 1983 by John Wiley and Sons, Inc.
Designed by Wemer Graphics
computer pertormng an operat
ia ine number, however,
the system level. The com
‘can be used in a program by
Note: LOAD can be used to load variatie
information
Format: LOAD expr$ parameter
where
ro! =|
whore they were saves from
SCREENS screen of information
Example LOAD “TABLE DATA A(
the program currently in memory
Fen MERGE °
rma | MERGE “pr
SAVE can be used to save variable infor
‘See table under LOAD,
Format. SAVE “progam name
Example. SAVE "TABLE" DATA A(
Saves array named On tape unde" the
name TABLE
VERIFY Compares a program on ca
previously saved with the version in memory
Format: VERIFY “program name’
ISBN 0 471-80432.0
BASIC LANGUAGE STATEMENTS
These statements result in tne computer performing an operation when the program 1s executed,
They are normal
command by ent
rmout a line number
jweth a preceding line number; however, a statement may be used as a
BRANCHING
@OSUB Fesuits ina Dranch to the
Subroutine at a specified ine number A
RETURN statement causes a branch Back to
the instruction followng the GOSUB,
Format: GOSUB expinm
Example: ime GOSUB 500
Format GOTO axpinm
Examoies: lina GOTO 500
Note: When used in immediate moae, GOTO
starts a program at any ine you choose
without clearing ihe varvaties
Format: ON ERR GOTO line
Example. ino ON EAR GOTO 5000
ror number obtained By
Non 23739. Line number where
obtained by PEEKIng focal
ON ERR CONT Causes ine program to
resume execution al the statement in which
the error ongnally cecurred
1s the memory cop}
The program remai
AP-THEN Causes ine execution of a stare
tre,
rogram moves onto the next ine
Format: IF expr THEN statement
Example: tine IF K= 41 THEN GOTO 200
RETURN Resuts in a program branch 10 ihe
Statement immediately following the most
recently executed GOSUB statement
Format RETURN
Example. ne RETURN
Note: RETURN appears as RETRN on the
keyboard.
Format, ON ERR CONT.
Example: line ON ERR CONT
abies the ON ERA
STATEMENTS:
Note. It STEP o
have a value of
LET Assigns a value or a string to the
specitied vanabio,
Format: LET var = expr
Example tne LET X
NEXT Terminates the loop
FOR statement
Format. NEXT fetter
Example: fine NEXT X
PAUSE Stops computing and displays the
fad, expr assumed 10
a
lated by a
ine PAUSE 500
185 the value exornm to the byte in
POKE memadr, expiam
Osexpinms 255
O= mamacr< 65535
Note: RANDOMIZE appears as RAND on the
kepboard
Use a Mouse on Any Hardware
Implementing the Mouse ona Z80 system
by Richard Rodman
The Logimouse® R7 and C7 mice
(Logitech, Inc., 6505 Kaiser Dr.,
Fremont, CA 94555, (415 ) 795-8500 )
are widely available and interface via a
standard RS-232 serial port. It seemed
that this mouse could be easily used with
my Z-80 system. After some experimen-
tation, this proved to be true.
The Logimouse R7, which I used, has
an external power supply connecting to a
DB-25 female connector. Data comes out
on pin 3; pin 7 is grounded. I'm not sure if
it’s necessary to drive DTR on pin 20, but
I did. The Logimouse C7 does not require
an external power supply.
The mouse is held in the hand with the
cord proceeding away, in the opposite
direction from the arm. The palin rests on
the flat area on the top of the mouse, and
the fingers operate 3 buttons on the far
end of the mouse. This is important—the
directions “up,” ‘‘down,’’ “left” and
“Fight’’ below depend on this orientation.
The mouse sends data in 5-byte packets
at 1200 baud. The first byte of the packet
has bit 7 set, and bits 0, 1, and 2 set or
reset according to the status of the 3
mouse buttons. Bit 0 will be 0 if the right
button is down, or 1 if it is up. Bit 1 con-
tains the status of the middle button, and
bit 2 that of the left button, Bits 3 through
6 are all zero.
The second and fourth bytes are
movement values in the horizontal or X
direction ( left to right ). A value which is
negative indicates motion to the left; a
value which is positive indicates
movement to the right.
The third and fifth bytes are movement
valucs in the vertical or Y direction ( up
and down ). A value which is negative
dicates motion downward ( toward the
user ); a value which is positive indicates
motion upward ( away from the user ).
The program given in the Listing is writ-
ten in Software Toolworks C for CP/M.
It tracks the movement of the mouse with
the cursor of a video terminal, and
displays the status of the three buttons in
the lower right corner of the screen. The
program has in-line assembly code for a
Z80-CTC and a Z80-SIO working
together. To modify for other serial port
/* --- MOUSE.C --- Read serial Logimouse on arbitrary hardware
Implementation given is for Software Toolvorks C.
Hardvare port logic is for 288 SIO f CTC.
By Richard Rodman. Any use whatsoever of this code is heartily
encouraged.
Usage:
If a command line parameter is used, it will simply displey
the bytes received in hex. Otherwise, the cursor will treck
movenent of the mouse, and the button status of each button will
be displayed.
Press esc to stop.
Mouse data packet structure:
First byte: 1@@00LMR @ if left button down, else 1
M = ® if middle button, else 1
R= @ if right button, else 1
Second byte: delta x, negative = left, positive = right
Third byte: delta y, negative = down, positive = up
Fourth byte: Another delta x value
Fifth byte: Another delta y value
The entire packet is sent if anything changes.
History:
870706 rr orig version */
finclude ''tprintf.c'! /* for debugging only #/
int cursx, cursy; /* cursor locstion */
main( argc, argv )
int arge;
cher *argv(];
int 1, bytel 5 J
char butstr[ 4 };
minit(); /* init serial port for mouse */
elrsen(); /* clear the terminal screen */
butstr[ 3] = '\O'; /* terminate string for display */
cursx = 40;
curey = 12; /* center the cursor */
goxy( cursx, cursy ); /* and display it #/
while( 1) { /* do forever */
/* Check local console for press of ESC key. */
18
Af( bdos( 6, @x@OFF ) == '\033' ) break;
/* Check the mouse for a character */
if( mstet() ) {
/* If command line parameter was present, just display it. */
if( arge > 1) printf( ''#02x '', minput() );
else {
* Read the 5-byte packet from the mouse */
for(i =O; 1 <5; +4) {
vnile( | mstat() ) /* wait ¥/ ;
bytef 4) = minput();
/* Process buttons in byte @ */
butstr[ @] = butstr( 1] = bjtstr[] 2] = ' 5
if(! ( bytel @ ] £ QxB4 )) butstr[ @) = 'L;
if( 1 ( bste[ @ ] f @x@2 )) butstr[ 1) = 'M';
if( 1 ( byte( @ ] f @x®1 )) butstr{ 2] = 'R';
goxy( 75, 23);
printf( butstr );
/* The cursor movements are signed characters, Process these, Use a
slew of 256 as full-screen. The Y movement needs to be negated. */
cursx += 82 * ( extend( bste{ 1} )
extend( byte( 3] )) / 256;
cursy -= 24 * ( extend( bste{ 2} )
extend( byte[ 4] )) / 256;
+
+
/* Make sure the cursor stays on the screen */
if( cursx < 0) cursx
if( cursx > 79 ) cursx
if( cursy < @) cursy = 8
4f( cursy > 23 ) cursy = 23;
goxy( cursx, cursy );
}
/* extend sign on integer ¥/
int extend( c )
int ¢}
if( ec > 128 ) c -= 256;
return ¢;
}
/* clear the terminal screen */
celrsen()
printf( ''\@33E"' );
go to x, y ¥/
goxy( x, y )
t
19
hardware, modify the routines minit( },
mstat( ) andminput( ).
Since 1 couldn't determine the reason
for the two movement values in each
direction, | simply added them. This gives
values in each direction of — 256 to + 254.
This value, once calculated, needs to be
scaled to the resolution of your display, so
that moving the mouse produces propor-
tional movement on the screen. Because I
was using a normal 80 by 24 video ter-
minal, I scaled the horizontal values by
multiplying by 80 and dividing by 256, the
vertical values by multiplying by 24 and
dividing by 256. The resulting movement
values are added to the current X and Y
cursor position.
If you use a graphics display, multiply
by your actual horizontal and vertical
resolutions instead. Remember to insure
that the X and Y values don't exceed the
dimensions of the display.
You may desire to divide by a value less
or greater than 256. Smaller valuvs make
the mouse respond with greater
movement; larger values with less
movement. The "‘best’’ value would be a
value which allows accurate positioning of
the cursor anywhere, without requiring
the user to constantly ‘trow’’ the mouse
(repeatedly rolling the mouse, then
picking it up and moving it back without
rolling ).
Since you have control of this
parameter, you can make your targets
large and your divisor small, and
eliminate the rowing for all but the most
crowded of desks.
Another point to remember: The mouse
is a relative movement device. It does not
keep track of its absolute position
Therefore, your program can only follow
it when it actively examines the serial port.
I suggest checking for characters
periodically, and processing the mouse
movement whenever a packet is waiting.
This can be done by converting the
main( ) in the listing into a function, and
removing the wnile( 1) loop. This fun-
ction then should be called periodically to
update the mouse position while other
program activity is going on.
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20
WANTED OR FOR SALE
These ads, for sale or wanted, are available free for those who subscribe to UPDATE
Magazine. They must be of a Sinclair or 288 nature or a peripheral that may be used for them.
Use these ads to solicit help on a project, or to help you sort out a hardware or a software
problem. They are for your use. They offer a good resource for the Sinclair and Cambridge
community of users. Please inquire to the magazine for commercial ad placement.
(1) FOR SALE: TS2040 printer with adaptor. Has a roll of paper. Works good, for $20.00.
TS1016 Memory Pack. Not tested, for $7.00. One QSAVE, a fast loading device for the
TS1000, with program tape. Not tested, for $5.00. One TS1500 Computer, with adaptor, its
own Sinclair case, TV switch. May be good for parts to fix up another TS1500, for $25.00. One
TS1000 Computer, with no adaptor, nor TV switch. Not tested, for $7.00 Please write to
William DesLauriers, 9926 Kramer Ct., Indianapolis, IN 46236-1647.
(2) WANTED: Interested in buying new or used Larken disk interfaces for the TS2068. Contact
Bob Swoger, 613 Parkside Circle, Streamwood, IL 60107. Also contact me if you are
interested in joining a TS user group that has been around for a number of years and is still
growing. We even have our own BBS and newsletter.
(3) TS CONSULTING AVAILABLE: Contact Rod Gowen, for professional (fee charged) help
with your computer problems (use his experience to your advantage and keep this valuable
resource available). Rod Gowen of RMG, phone 503-655-7484.
(4) FOR SALE: Miracle Hard Drive for the QL, 30 Meg. This is a complete system ready to
hook up to the ROM cartridge port on the back of the computer. Price is $150 and includes
shipping. Also want to sell approximately 70 back issues of QUANTA Magazine. Price is
negotiable. Contact Paul Holmgren, 5231 Wilton Wood Ct, Indianapolis, IN 46254.
(5)FOR SALE: Foote Printer Interface that fits in the dock port of your TS2068 and gives you
access fo a parallel printer. No driver with it, but works fine with my Tasword 2 and MSCRIPT.
Also 2 Aerco Printer Interfaces, one for the TS2068 and one for the TS1000, for $25 each.
Also for sale a JLO kit for making a 4 slot motherboard for the TS2068. It fits on the back of the
TS2068, and is for sale for $30. | also have for sale a SPEM (Italian made) full page scanner
for the QL. This is already set up on a serial printer body so it easily connects to your QL. It
comes with software. The price is $90. All prices include US shipping, but for foreign throw in a
few extra dollars for large items and an extra $2 for the small items. Contact Frank Davis, 513
East Main St., Peru, IN 46970, or call evenings Tues thru Sat from 5-9 P.M. at 317-473-8031.
(6)FOR SALE: Small tape cartridges that work in the A&J 1000, A&J 2000, and the Rotronics
Wofadrive. Some are brand new, still sealed in package, while some are used, but good. They
are hard to get, whereas | no longer have the equipment they are for, so | am offering them for
sale to those who can use them. One for $3, or two for $5, and I will mail them for free. | also
still have for sale a Falkenberg Hard Disk Interface, with RLL card and Bus Expansion Board
for the QL. Make me a good, reasonable offer on this and it is yours. | use one, as well as a
QUBIDE IDE Interface and like both, but have only so much room in my place. Write to me :
Eliad Wannum, c/o UPDATE Magazine, P.O. Box 17, Mexico, IN 46958.
21
(7) HELP WANTED: It is now possible for a lot of people to access the Internet. What we as
Sinclair users now need is a graphical interface that will allow us fo easily navigate the
Internet. This requires a program that allows us to be able to access many common tools for
the Internet such as SLIP, FINGER, ICP or TCP, ARCHIE, GOPHER. Has anyone out there
given any thought or actual work in this area? If so, please take the time to share your work, or
ideas with the rest of us. We here at UPDATE Magazine would be glad to help if we can, or to
help you make your work, efforts, or problems in this area known. We have gotten this far as a
group of users by helping and sharing. This is just another area we can shine in. If you think it
is not possible, check out the QFAX software, QEM, and QTPI to see how far we have come in
comm software. It could be done. Your help is wanted.
(8) ADDITIONAL HELP WANTED: We are also in need of some much improved terminal
communications programs for the TS2068. MTERM and MTERM2 are way too elementary
and lacking in features to be of great use on most BBSs of today. SPECTERM and a few like
MAXCOM were at least improvements over the above. But we need to face the fact that they
also are not up to the speed and ease of use that todays BBSs demand of you, much less
able to upload and download programs with any speed. Because of no local access numbers,
many of our users in out of the way places can develop large phone bills with the software now
available for the TS2068. Anyone out there got any new ideas or solutions? If so, let us know
at UPDATE Magazine. Another good place to pass on this information is to the QBOX BBS.
What better way to make it known!
(9) A TIP FOR QL USERS OF SERIAL MOUSE: This comes from A. E. Green of Tampa,
Florida. *! think it was the QL Report that | saw this, a gender changer for the IBM serial mouse
to the QL. After reading the article | thought that there must be a better way and there is: First:
cut the mouses tail off about an inch from the female plug.Second: strip off the insulation of the
4 wires and using an OHM meter check out what color wire goes to what pin of the plug and
write it down. Third: Cut the end that goes into the male socket flush then remove what is left
of the metal pins. Fourth: Mark the outline of the plug with a felt tip pen and using a Dremel
tool (or similar) with a 1/8" router bit hollow out the plastic just deep enough to insert a 9 pin
male socket . By this time you can remove what is left of the remaining tail and replace it with
the other end and solder the wires by color code according to the QL pin out, a drop of super
glue on both ends of the socket will hold everything together quite well."
A second bit of useful information from Mr. Green is: “I found two power supplies for the
TS2068 that are much better than the original. Both are switchers type, one is from a Zenith
data sytem #150-308 16.5 volts at 2 amps, the other is from COMPAQ Computer #129827-001
18 volts at 2.5 amps. Need a plug that will fit the TS2068 try an 8bit ATARI, the plug and not
the power supply. It's 9 volts AC and won't work. Remember that the center pin on the TS2068
is negative.”
A.E. Green ends off by asking “Has anyone found a better power supply for the QL?"
Editors nofe: one thing those who attended last years Dayton Computerfest saw, but |
forgot to fell the rest of you was a little something that A.E. Green made for us here at
UPDATE Magazine. He took a TS1000, and installed an LCD clock in it. He cut out a place
above the keypad part for the display to show through, and wired it in so that the time and date
could be adjusted from the keyboard and made it so it hangs on the wall. It is above the
computer | am using at this moment. The work was really well done and much appreciated.
Mr. Green seems to have a knack for these things.
22
Buying «a Sdodem
by Hed Rahale ch ~190uG
They are doing it to us again. Just when
you may have thought you had a handle on un-
derstanding modems — those devices that let
computers connect to other computers and to on-
line services over telephone lines — the com-
puter industry has introduced a new, and particu-
larly confusing, standard for these gizmos. So, if
you are looking for that fast modem, read on.
So this is a good
time to look into the
new standard, and to
go over the whole
process of buying a
modem, whether it’s
an add-on to a com-
puter or built into a
new machine.
The easiest way
to think of a modem is
as a telephone for your
computer. Regular
phones — the entire
telephone system, in
fact — are designed to
carry voices. Modems
are mainly designed to
transmit and receive
computer data over
this voice-based net-
work. The material
transmitted by modem can range from simple
text-based documents such as electronic mail
messages, to program types that contain spread-
sheets, sounds, pictures, video and more. Nearly
every modem today also has the ability to send
documents from a computer’s screen to a fax
machine (facsimile) and to receive on the com-
puter’s screen documents faxed from a fax ma-
chine.
When you look at a modem in a store, the
box is crawling with techno-terminology that
hardly anybody understands. But there really are
only two basic characteristics of a modem that
will mater to most people. The first is its physical
configuration — Is it an internal (for PC’s) or
external model? The second is the speed at which
it is capable of sending and receiving data, a
cruial issue since many on-line services charge by
the hour or even the minute.
External modems are easy to hook-up, they
have lights that give you positive confirmation
that you are still connected and that a download
or other transmission is
proceeding. These little
lights have cryptic la-
bels, but they’re useful
anyway.
Speed is the other
key factor. Modem
speeds are measured in
bits per second or bps
(a bit being the small-
est unit of computer-
data). This is some-
times called BAUD, but
that’s actually a differ-
ent measure, as ex-
plained in my last arti-
cle, so bps is the one to
use.
Modems _ usually
have one speed for
computer data and an-
other for faxing. The
fastest modem speed that’s widely supported to-
day by commercial and corporate networks you
might dial into is 14,400 bits per second, usually
called 14.4, fourteenfour or fourteen-dot-four.
These 14.4 V.32 modems usually have a faxing
speed of 9,600 bps. They now cost around $100
to $150 ($70 - $110 for internal modem). Older
modems with data speeds of 2,400 bps or 9,600
bps are cheaper ($30 - $70) but they are just too
slow for long distance or for going on-line.
Here’s where that new industry standard
comes in. Many modem companies have just
brought out models that claim to work at a high
speed of 28,800 bps.
23
These 28.8 bps modems promise great
benefits, but for most people, they aren’t a good
choice now for several reasons. First, none of the
leading on-line services can handle data at this
new speed, few other computers with the 8251
UART can either. (A 16550 UART or its equivalent is
required) Second, even when the on-line services
can handle the new speed, in a year or so, they're
likely to charge a premium for that faster service
that will partly or wholly wipe out any cost sav-
ings the speed increase brings. Third, the 28.8
bps modems are roughly twice as expensive as
14.4 bps models—about $230 - $300.
Many modems on store shelves can’t be re-
lied upon to connect at full speed to other 28.8
bps modems because they don’t meet the interna-
tional standard for modems of that speed. This
standard is set by an international panel of engi-
neers (ITU formerly CCITT) and covers lots of tech-
nical matters too dense and boring to enumerate
here, even if / could. But all you need to know is
that the standard is called V.34. If you insist on
buying a 28.8 bps modem, make sure it says on
the box that it complies with the V.34 standard.
Don’t buy a modem that supports a standard
called V.FC or V.Fast or any other V that’s not
V.34. These are unofficial standards cooked up by
impatient modem companies while waiting for the
slow-moving international committee to define the
official standard.
The only exception is a few nonstandard 28.8
bps modems that can be cheaply upgraded to the
official V.34 standard. One example is the best~
selling US Robotics Sportster, which now comes
in an official V.34 version ($235). Older Sport-
sters ($125) that met only the V.Fast standard can
be upgraded to V.34 by popping in a chip the
company will send you for $29. Same as with
V-Everything that can be upgraded to any forth-
coming standard by just downloading a file from
US Robotics’s BBS free of charge.
Sorry for all the jargon, but you’ll need to look
for it on the box if you absolutely must have the
fastest modem, no matter how impractical it is.
On-Line Security
Computer security experts have discovered a new weak-
ness that could leave more than half of the “host” computers
on the INTERNET vulnerable to hacker break-ins
The Computer Emergency Response Team, a faderally
funded center based at Camegie Mellon University, issued a
public warning and said that the security lapse could let hack-
ers commandeer INTERNET computers that use the UNIX op-
erating system, specifically a program that manages electronic
mail. UNIX is the basic system software that runs more than
two million of the roughly four million main Aost computers
connected to the global network.
eam
The CERT waming is the latest in Hee q AW ‘
a spate of security problems to emerge fil
i
recently fini WY
A notorious hacker was ar- 777 7H
rested and charged with pilfering records
on 20,000 credit-card accounts and
breaking into myriad computer systems
on the INTERNET In the wake of pub-
licity about the case, a new “hole” was
discovered that could let hackers shut
down. electronic-information sites that
hundreds of companies have set up on
the World Wide Web, a multimedia
portion of the INTERNET.
‘The vulnerability allows a hacker:
to penetrate a hole in nearly 20 com-
monly used, electronic-mail programs
and then read any file on the system,
overwrite or destroy files according to
an advisory that went out on the net- |
work.
the INTERNET adds record numbers off |
new users, many of them businesses
More than 30,000 businesses have regis-
tered INTERNET addresses, and more /
than 2,000 newcomers join each month. j
The latest disclosures underscore that
ani
The security risks are growing as I]
i
their data may not be as secure as they
thought.
Vinton Cerf, a vice president at
MCI and one of the INTERNET’S origi-
nal architects, said security problems
will continue to plague the network,
despite the arrest of fugitive hacker
Kevin Mitnick. “One could hardly credit
him with all of the security incidents.”,
Cerf said. All too often, he added;
“security concerns are ignored because |
they have annoying side effects.” such as |
increased costs and time-consuming
procedures.
A senior scientist at computer se-
curity firm TISI, said the persistent se-
curity problems are partly the reault of
an immature software engineering indus-|
try, in which security concerns fall by
the wayside. “We also have all these
hackers who don’t seem to have any-
thing better to do than breaking into
these systems.", he said. “It doesn’t help
that the government restricts the export = |
of robust security methods known as |
cryptography.” |
Bugene Spafford, a professor of com- '
puter science at Purdue University, said |
|
|
that if consumers made greater demands |
|
on software manufacturers for better |
security features, the vendors would i i
justify the increased cost of including them “Are we going to
continue sceing problems? You bet.", He said
24
~.QBOX- USA.
== 300- Me
Ss "= 910-254-9878 21's! =
—z | — Zz bps
LY py
Now reaacag woth a GUIDE caterface and @ hard drivel
We're expanding! Lots of new Files! New message and file
areas will be added soon. Give us a call and let us know
what you want to see here. We still have the Following
areas available:
MESSAGES ELLE AREAS
Local General
Private Utilities
International QL Communications
i Minerva archivers
' Quanta Pointer Stuff
| QBox Sysop Emulators
Spectrum Spectrum72068
Netmail Private
If you like the 2068 but use a PC, we have a Timex 2068
emulator available For download,
SES TERSTS TEKST SHS KES AS SRS SESE SALTS STATE SAT SR AES AE SER AEST SERS ESE Ete Ss
*
*
*
+
*
*
+
*
*
*
*
*
.
*
*
*
*
*
*
+
t
*
*
*
*
+
COMPUTER CLASSICS
##¢ FOR SALE #¢#¢#
COMPUTER CLASSICS
RT 1, BOX 117
CABOOL, MO 65689
Repair Service for America’s
Favorite Home Computers
and their accessories and keyboard.
ADAM ATARI COMMODORE
RAM, 1.2MB & 1.44MB floppies,
IBM OSBORNE SINCLAIR
and monochrome monitor.
TIMEX TI TRS-80
half height floppy drives
$25 each or 10 for $150
BUY - SELL - TRADE - UPGRADE
Write for prices
SASE appreciated
and RGB COLOR MONITORS
Ph. (417) 469 - 4571 Write for prices
HEHEHE HERRERO
FEES ESSE RESTS ES SAS SESE EEE SE SES EEE SESE SES HE EERE SESE ESET SESE T ESE EEEEE EEE
IBM XT COMPUTER $200 +shipping
Includes 10 MEG hard drive, 640K
RAM, 360K floppy, serial port and
parallel port, monochrome monitor,
IBM 286 COMPUTER $350 +shipping
Includes 20 MEG hard drive, 1MB
serial & parallel ports, keyboard,
QUAD DENSITY 5 1/4 in. (720K)
IBM HARD DRIVES, CONTROLLERS,
*
+
*
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+
*
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oa
*
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SEE YOU AT OAK RIDGE!
MECHANICAL AFFINITY MECHANICAL AFFINITY
513 EAST MAIN ST. 5231 WILTON WOOD CT
PERU, IN 46970 USA INDIANAPOLIS, IN 46254 USA
317-473-8031 Tues - Sat 317-291-6002
5109 P.M.
goods need prior okay.
We accept checks, cash,
money orders, or will {
send C.O.D.All returned &
&:
— a
We will be at the IQLR and Miracle QL show June 10 at Oak Ridge
and invite all of our customers to join us there for the festivities and the
chance to socialize. PLUS!!! you will have the chance to purchase some of
the best software in the world for your QL. We will fave QLs, Gold
Cards, Super Gold Cards, QXLs, Trump Cards, Hermes, Qubide AT/IDE
Interfaces, parts, chips, membranes, tons of the latest software for the QL,
Z88s to use as a portable for your QL.Take our word that the trip will be
worth the while. An excellent vacation with European and UK dealers as
well as us. Also UPDATE Magazine, IQLR and QBOX will be there.
Hope to see you soon. In the meantime if you need anything, call!
Frank Davis and Paul Holmgren
SINCLAIR QL
QL TECH GUIDES $12
QL SERVICE MANUAIS $10
QL POWER SUPPLIES 110 VOLT $15
QL REPLACEMENT MEMBRANES $20
512K EXPANDERAM FOR QL $25
QL INTERNAL ROM BOARD $12 :
INTERNAL QL BATTERY BACKED CLOCK $15 J
QL COMPUTER USA VERSION W/POWER SUPPLY $75
MINERVA MK1 ROM $58, MK2 $85
HERMES , 8049 replacement co-processor $42
QUBIDE , QL AT/IDE HARD DRIVE INTERFACE $120
FALKENBERG MFM or RLL HARD DRIVE INTERFACE $ 185
QL KEYBOARD 90 INTERFACE, add IBM keyboard to computer $90
QL GOLD CARD $ 195
QL SUPER GOLD CARD $395
QL TRUMP CARD $90
QL SERIAL to PARALLEL PRINTER INTERFACE $40
QXL Card for PC, 4 Meg QL board $415
Ask us about SMSQ/E, the new QDOS compatible operating system!
26
CABLE COLUMN
By Bill Cabie
ARCHIVE SERIES
PART 20 : MORE ON LINKING DATABASES
TOGETHER AND USING SEDIT
CREATING ADDRESS2_DBF and SUBSCR2_DBF
The desired fields for an address database were listed last
time and now we need to create it and add a few
addresses. We will call it 'address2' because it is an
address database and the ‘2’ will make it easy to identify
with our country database, gazet2. We create address2 at
the ARCHIVE prompt just like we did gazet2. Flp1_ will be
used as our device throughout :
create 'flp1_address2’ logical 'a'sENTER> (start create}
acode$<ENTER>
date$<ENTER>
name$<ENTER>
fname$<ENTER>
street! $<ENTER>
street2$<ENTER>
city$<ENTER>
stcypv$<ENTER>
postcode$<ENTER>
ccode$<ENTER>
phone$<ENTER>
noteS<ENTER>
<ENTER> {end create}
displays<ENTER> {show it}
{we will add some made up addresses just so we have
some in the database to play with}
inserts<ENTER> {add first address}
smith, b<ENTER> 95/05/15<ENTER> Smith<ENTER>
Bob<ENTER> PO Box 92<ENTER> <ENTER>
Cornish<ENTER> NH<ENTER> 03745<ENTER>
usame<ENTER>(603) 675-4211<ENTER><ENTER>
wilson,r<ENTER> 95/05/15<ENTER>
Wilson<ENTER>Robert<ENTER>
20 Mow Barton<ENTER><ENTER>Yate<ENTER>
Bristol<ENTER>BF17 5GF<ENTER> uking<ENTER>
(01434) 882 206<ENTER><ENTER>
{next one}
baum.u<ENTER> 95/05/15<ENTER>
Baum<ENTER>Ursula<ENTER>
im Stillen Winkel 12<ENTER><ENTER>
Duisburg<ENTER><ENTER>12133<ENTER>
germa<ENTER>0201-511247<ENTER><ENTER>
{next one}
Ward,r<ENTER>95/05/15<ENTER>Ward<ENTER>
Roger<ENTER>Old Valley Road<ENTER><ENTER>
Aukland<ENTER><ENTER>32145<ENTER>
nzeal<ENTER><ENTER><ENTER>
{enter some of your own, the more the better}
<F4> {end address entry}
order acode$,a<ENTER> {set order by address code}
closesENTER> {done with this for now}
Notice the Addresses were given an Address Code
consistent with the rules mentioned last time and is our
Key for looking up an Address. The Country Code field
(ccode$) in Address2 matches values of the Country Code
field (ccode$) in Gazet2 which is our Key for looking up
Country. Now we have our Country Database
(gazet2_dbf) and our Address Database (address2_dbf).
We need to create our final database which will be a
Subscription Database. It will keep track of subscriptions
for three different newsletters we will pretend to sell -
macworld, pcworld, qlworld. Creating databases
containing real data is a lot of work. We just want enough
data to realistically illustrate the linking of the Databases
and even that is a fair amount of work. We will pretend we
are in charge of keeping subscription information for these
3 newsletters. We will define the following fields in the
subscription database :
Field # Field Description Field Name
0 Newsletter name newsletter$
1 Subscribers address code — acode$
2 Starting Date sdate$
3 Ending Date edate$
4 Issues left issues
5 Amount Paid amt
We will call our database subscr2 to go along with gazet2
and address2. From the ARCHIVE prompt type :
create ‘flp1_subscr2' logical 's’<ENTER> {start create}
newsletter$<ENTER>
acode$<ENTER>
sdate$<ENTER>
edate$<ENTER>
issues<ENTER>
amt<ENTER>
<ENTER> {end create}
display<ENTER> {display record}
{we will add some pretend subscriptions}
insen<ENTER> {begin adding}
qlworld<ENTER>smith,b<ENTER>
95/05/15<ENTER>96/04/15<ENTER>
12<ENTER>15<ENTER>
pcworld<ENTER?>smith,b<ENTER> {next one}
95/02/15<ENTER>96/01/15<ENTER>
12<ENTER>20<ENTER>
qiworld<ENTER>wilson,r<ENTER> {next one}
94/09/15<ENTER>96/08/15<ENTER>
24<ENTER>30<ENTER>
macworld<ENTER>baum,u<ENTER>
95/02/15<ENTER>96/01/15<ENTER>
27
12<ENTER>25<ENTER>
qlworld<ENTER>baum,u<ENTER>
95/05/15<ENTER?96/04/15<ENTER>
12<ENTER>15<ENTER>
pcworld<ENTER>ward,r<ENTER>
95/01/15<ENTER>95/12/15<ENTER>
12<ENTER>20<ENTER>
<F4> {end adding}
order newsletter$;a,sdate$;a<sENTER>
close<ENTER>
Notice that the Address Code in the Subscription
Database matches the Address Code we set up in our
Address Database. So the Address Code in the
Subscription Database points to and Address in the
Address Datbase which points to a Country in the Country
Database and our Linking is complete. Now that we have
our databases we need to be able to see information in all
three databases at once.
CREATING A SCREEN FOR 3 DATABASES
ARCHIVE has several commands that can be used to
print information to the screen but it also has a special
Screen Builder which allows you to visually construct a
screen layout using a Screen Editor (SEDIT) and then
save it to load and use as needed. Although limited in
power and not especially user friendly it is an example of
visual programming so much the rage these days. Instead
of writing code you actually move around the screen
putting labels and variable values where you want them to
be and then save it to use. Using an ARCHIVE Screen is
probably the easiest way to display information from 3
databases simultaneously.
The instructions below will give a brief description of how
SEDIT works plus exact key presses to create the screen
we want. We will display the subscription database on the
left and the address database in the center and the
country database on the right. | will use RA to indicate
right arrow. So (14RA) will mean press 14 right arrows.
The arrow keys move the cursor around the screen.
Typing text will enter the text exactly where the cursor is.
You can't push text around you can only overwrite places
on the screen. Different colors can be used but | won't get
into that now. Pressing <F3> allows you to access the
screen editing commands which includes defining areas
where variable values will go. So putting the cursor where
you want the variable to start and pressing <F3> and v will
cause ARCHIVE to prompt for the variable name. Enter it
then press the RA (right arrow) until-you have defined
enough space for the variable value to be displayed. You
will see periods (.) fill that area. Then <ENTER> will end
defining that variable area. Variables can include fields of
accessed databases. | will use a special ARCHIVE
technique to exactly define database field names when
more than one database is accessed at once. Notice that
above and when we access files below we will use logical
names “g" for gazet2 and “a” for address2 and “s" for
subscr2. This allows us to precisely refer to which field in
which file we want. So a.ccode$ refers to the country code
field in the address database and g.ccode$ refers to
country code field in the country database. If more than
one file is accessed at one time then only one will be
active. Which is active can be switched by using the Use
command (use "s" or use “a" or use “g"). The active one
will not need the *." prefix to refer to a field but all the
others will. In defining the screen | will make the
subscription database active and so its fields will be
referred to on the screen without any prefix but the
Address fields will have an “a." prefix and the country
fields will have a “g." prefix. If you are not familiar with
SEDIT | suggest you also read over that section of your
ARCHIVE manual and keep it handy.
Below | will give the key presses to set up the screen.
Reading them will not make much sense but as you enter
them on your QL you will see on the screen what is
happening and it will make sense. Basically a line at a
time | am setting up 3 columns (one for each database).
Each column will have a label and a field (variable). Ail the
extra RA (right arrows) are to line up the columns or
define the variable areas. Rather than carefully counting
you will be able to see visually where to move to. This is a
challenging exercise but if you suffer through it you will
learn a lot about the screen editor before you are through.
new<ENTER> {clear things out}
seditsENTER> {start screen editor}
(2RA)SUBSCRIPTION(11RA)ADDRESS(18RA)
COUNTRY<ENTER><ENTER>
(2RA)Newsletter(1RA)<F3>vnewsletter$<ENTER>
(9RA)<ENTER>(3RA)Addr Code(1RA)<F3>v
a.acode$<ENTER>(14RA)<ENTER>
(2RA)Cntry Code(1RA)<F3>vg.ccode$<ENTER>
(15RA)<ENTER><ENTER>
(2RA)Addr Code(2RA)<F3>vacode$<ENTER>
(9RA)<ENTER>(3RA)Date(6RA)<F3>va.date$
<ENTER>(14RA)<ENTER>(2RA)Country(4RA)
<F3>vg.country$<ENTER>(15RA)<ENTER><ENTER>
(2RA)Start Date(1RA)<F3>vsdate$<ENTER>
(QRA)<ENTER>(3RA)Name(6RA)<F3>va.name$
<ENTER>(14RA)<ENTER>(2RA)Continent(2RA)
<F3>vg.continent$<ENTER>(15RA)<ENTER><ENTER>
(2RA)End Date(3RA)<F3>vedate$<ENTER>
(QRA)<ENTER>(3RA)Frst Name(1RA)<F3>va.fname$
<ENTER>(14RA)<ENTER>(2RA)Capital(4RA}
<F3>vg.capital$<ENTER>(15RA)<ENTER><ENTER>
(2RA)Issues(5RA)<F3>vissues<ENTER>
(QRA)<ENTER>(3RA)Street1(3RA)<F3>va street 1$
28
<ENTER>(14RA)<ENTER>(2RA)Languages(2RA)<F3>
vg languages$<ENTER>(15RA)<ENTER><ENTER>
(2RA)Amount(5RA)<F 3>vamt<ENTER>
(9RA)<ENTER>(3RA)Street2(3RA)<F3>va street2$
<ENTER>(14RA)<ENTER>(2RA)Currency(3RA)
<F3>vg currency$<ENTER>(15RA)<ENTER><ENTER>
(25RA)City(6RA)<F3>va.city§<ENTER>
(14RA)<ENTER>(2RA)Population( 1RA)<F3>vg. pop
<ENTER>(15RA)<ENTER><ENTER>
(25RA)St/Cy/Prv(1RA)<F 3>va stcypv$<ENTER>
(14RA)<ENTER>(2RA)GDP(8RA)<F3>vg.gdo
<ENTER>(15RA)<ENTER><ENTER>
(25RA)Postal Cd(1RA)<F 3>va.postcode$<ENTER>
(14RA)<ENTER>(2RA)Area(7RA)<F3>vg area
<ENTER>(15RA)<ENTER><ENTER>
(25RA)Cntry Cd(2RA)<F3>va ccode$<ENTER>
(14RA)<ENTER><ENTER>
(25RA)Phone(SRA)<F3>va.phone$<ENTER>
(14RA)<ENTER><ENTER>
(25RA)Note(6RA)<F3>va note$<ENTER>
(14RA)<ENTER><ENTER>
<ESC> {done}
ssave "filp1_sub2"<ENTER> {save it}
screen<ENTER> {look at it}
look “flp1_subscr2" logical "s"<ENTER>
Do all the subscription fields show up? If not sedit again
and make corrections where subscr2 variables are. If you
have misspelled a variable name you first have to delete it
by moving to it then <F3><ENTER> and then reenter it as
described above. Exit and look it over again. After it is
okay Save it and :
look “flp1_address2" logical "a"<ENTER>
Do all address fields with values show up. If not then
correct as with subscr2 and save and then :
look "flp1_gazet2" logical "g"<ENTER>
Do all country fields show up. If not then correct as with
subser2 and then
ssave “flp1_sub2"<ENTER>
close “s": close “a": close “g"<ENTER>
PLAYING WITH 3 LINKED DATABASES.
We have our databases and screen defined. Now we will
write a little procedure that will allow us*to access and
view all 3 together and they will be linked so whatever
address is specified for the subscription will appear as the
address and whatever country is associated with the
address will appear as the country. To be really useful a
more involved user interface needs to be built up but our
purpose is only to illustrate how linking can work. You
saved everything as suggested up to this point right?
new<ENTER> {clear everything out)
edit<ENTER> {start ARCHIVE editor}
subview<ENTER> {call procedure subview}
mode 0: error close_all<ENTER>
look “flp1_subscr2" logical “s"<ENTER>
look “flp1_address2" logical “a"<ENTER>
look “flp1_gazet2" logical “g'"<ENTER>
sload “flp1_sub2" : screen<ENTER>
use “s"<ENTER>
while not eof()<ENTER>
use "a" : locate s.acode$<ENTER>
locate a.ccode$<ENTER>
use" sprintcENTER>
print "<ENTER> to view next subscription
input ans$<ENTER>
nextcENTER>
endwhile<ENTER>
error Close_all<ENTER>
mode 1 print "Done"<ENTER>
<ESC> {finished with subview procedure}
<F3>nclose_allcENTER> {add close_all procedure}
“<ENTER>
while 1 close : endwhile<ENTER>
<ESC> {finished with close_all procedure}
<ESC> {all done adding procedures so exit editor}
save “flp1_subview<ENTER> {save procedures}
We have our procedure 'subview’ which will step through
the subscription database and display the proper address
and country for each subscription. Let us try it out
subviewsENTER> {start it}
<ENTER> {continue to <ENTER> until end}
If you have no errors you will see the linked data correctly
displayed. It is an interesting exercise and you can see
that ARCHIVE’s multifile capabilities coupled with the
ability to link databases together and efficiently display
them makes for powerful data handling only limited by
your imagination. in fact you will find no other structure on
the QL that can do this with such relatively little
programming effort. Being able to link data together and
efficiently display it is a necessity for any sophisticated
data handling system. Although this exercise was long and
tedious most of the work involved setting up data to play
with. The actual programming effort was very small. Can
you imagine trying to do this with SuperBASIC. You would
have to invent a complete ARCHIVE-like subsystem and
why bother since has already been done
Any of you who will be coming to the 3rd North American
QL Show in Oak Ridge Tennessee on Juné10th be sure
to bring examples of your favorite ARCHIVE problems or
solutions. | will be there and will happily discuss all things
related to ARCHIVE. Next time more fun with ARCHIVE
Any suggestions are welcomed. Until then, Happy
Archiving!
29
A FINANCIAL PROGRAM FOR THE SINCLAIR QL
By
Wood and Wind Computing : Bill Cable - RR3 Box 92. Cornish NH 03745: USA
Phone : (603) 675-2218
For the first time you have the capability of keeping complete and accurate financial records for the Home or Small Business with
your QL A fnendiy Financial Clerk to serve you The code is written in the ARCHIVE Programming Language and is completely
accessible to the user All functions are selectable from standardized menus No knowledge of ARCHIVE is required The program
works from a common sense point of view without imposing accounting theory on the user Although it has many powerful features.
the user can use only those features desired, ignoring the rest Recommended minimum system is a Trump Card with 2 DD Drives
it works much faster on Gold Cards and Super Gold Cards Latest Version is 3.21 Great for Tax Records. Order it today so you
have plenty of time to be ready for the IRS on April 15
PRICING
Public Domain Demonstration Version of QLerk (refundable with QLerk order) $5.00 US/Canada $7 00 Elsewhere
QLerk Program on Disk with Tutorial Doc File $29.00 US/Canada $31.00 Elsewhere
QLerk Manual (150 pages of details) $29 00 US/Canada $34 00 Elsewhere
QLerk Program with Tutorial and QLerk Manuai $5000 US/Canada $57.00 Elsewhere
Z88 COMPUTERS
AVAILABLE FROM US AT THE FOLLOWING PRICES THRU JUNE 10, 1995
Basic Z88 Computer, with carrying case and manual, new. $175
Z88 Computer, plus 128K extra RAM, soft case, new. $220
To use all of the features on your Z88 you need blank EPROM Cartridges
to store your most frequently used programs. 32K $25, 128K $55, and
256K for $85. We also have extra RAM available, 32K TO 512K.
MACLINK to 288 for $50 PCLINK to 288 for $45 QLINK to 288 $30.
MECHANICAL AFFINITY
513 EAST MAIN ST 5231 WILTON WOOD CT
PERU, IN 46970 INDIANAPOLIS, IN 46254
Cash, checks, money orders, or COD. Payablo to F. Davis or P. Holmgren.
Do YOU Require the very latest information on software and hardware developments
within the International QDOS/SMSQ Community ? Then you need a subscribtion to:
International QL Report
Do YOU Want to Know what QLer’s really think about the products they buy and do
they live up to the suppliers claims? Then you need a subscription to:
International QL Report
Do YOU Need up-to-date information on show events, hints and tips, who is doing
what and why, communications, PD and Shareware software developments and plenty of
adverts to help you make that important decision? Then you need a subscription to:
Is it Important to YOU to have your QL magazine delivered to you ON TIME,
EVERY TIME, without ever missing an issue? Then you need a subscription to:
International QL Report
HOW to SUBSCRIBE: Send the appropriate amount listed below in the form of a
Postal, Bank, Euro or Personal cheque to our North American or European office.
Please Note: Personal cheques in £ MUST be drawn on a UK bank. Personal cheques
in US$ MUST be drawn on a US bank. Please make ALL cheques payable to IQLR.
Credit Card Users may subscribe by either calling or sending their Credit Card
number and Expiry date to: MIRACLE SYSTEMS LTD - 20 Mow Barton - Yate, Bristol
BS17 5NF - UK Telephone/Fax: (01454) 883 602
SUBSCRIPTION RATES: To the US the rate is $24.00 - To the British Isles and
Europe the rate is $34.00 or £25.00 or DM70 - To Canada the rate is $27.00 - To Central
and South America the rate is $34.00 - To the Rest of the World the rate is $40.00 or
£30.00 or DM80. International QL Report
IQLR ¢ P.O. Box 3991, Newport, RI 02840-0987 * USA
Telephone/Fax: +1 401 849 3805
IQLR ¢ 23 Ben Culey Drive, Thetford, Norfolk ¢ Great Britain IP24 10]
The 3rd North American QL Show
An Open Invitation to All QDOS/SMSQ Users
Come, join with us, as we celebrate the QL's eleventh year and Jochen Merz Software's tenth year at the 3rd
annual North American QL show. The show will be held on Saturday the 10th of June 1995 in OAK RIDGE,
TENNESSEE, USA. Those who have attended in the past, will tell you that the show is really secondary to the
teal event, the GREAT OLD-FASHIONED GOOD TIME to be had by all. Many of us arrive two days in
advance and stay one or two days afterwards, others stay a day or two while still others arrive the day of the
show. No matter how long your with us, you will have a great time.
Traders expected to attend include: Stuart Honeyball of Miracle Systems (UK), Tony Firshman of TF Services
(UK), Bill Richardson of W N Richardson and Co (UK), Jochen Merz of Jochen Merz Software (GERMANY),
Frank Davis of Mechanical Affinity (USA), Carol and Frank Davis of Update Magazine (USA), Bill Cable of
Wood and Wind Computing (USA) and while not traders, John Impellizzeri and Don Walterman of QBOX-USA
(USA) will be demonstrating their QL Bulletin Board.
New Products and Old are expected to abound, including: the Masterpiece Enhanced Graphics Card - Super
Gold Card - QXLs from Miracle Systems, Super Hermes - Minerva - I2C interfaces from TF Services, and
Mechanical Affinity will have Qubide hard disk interfaces and just about anything else you might want.
Jochen Merz will be demonstrating SMSQ/E plus a number of his PE compatible programs including some new
products. Wood and Wind Computing will be demonstrating their state of the art financial package QLerk along
with their other products and Mechanical Affinity if they are true to form, will have just about every program
currently available for the QL plus plenty of spare parts. For the first time we'll have a table set up for Trade and
Sale, so bring those excess items you have with you, people are always looking for good buys.
The Show Registration Fee will be $3 (US) per person in advance and $5 (US) at the door. To register for
the show (not the motel) contact IOLR at our North American office. As has been our practice, a Dutch Treat
Dinner (you pay for your own meal) will be held following the show.
Base of Operations will be the SUPER 8 MOTEL 1590 Oak Ridge Turnpike Oak Ridge, TN, USA. The
room rates are $37 for a single and $41 for a double plus local taxes. Room rental includes the use of their
outdoor swimming pool, 25” color television (in each room) with multi-channel Cable, and a FREE Continental
Breakfast. For RESERVATIONS Telephone: US 615 483 1200 or Fax: 615 482 9834
Please Note: The room rates listed above "Are Special Show Rates" and will only be honored for
reservations made by 9 May 1995. After that date rooms will be on a first come basis at rates 16% higher.
YOU MUST state that you will be attending the “Srd North American QL Show*.
The venue of the show (with plenty of free parking) will be just down the road from the motel at : FAITH
LUTHERN CHURCH, 1300 Oak Ridge Turnpike, Oak Ridge,TN . Show hours will be: 10 am (EST) to 4pm
(ST).
Travelling Info \ your flying to the show, we recommend that you book your flight to Knoxville, TN
(McGhee-Tyson Airport) there is then a short 20 minute ride to Oak Ridge. Shuttle service is available from
"ABC Airport Limo Service’ at very reasonable rates (they have a counter at the Airport). For those of you
driving (motoring) to Oak Ridge and require additional information and/or directions, please contact:
Mel LaVerne
103 Endicott Lane
Oak Ridge, Tennessee 37830-4117 USA
Telephone: +1 615 483 4153
International QL Report
P. O. Box 3991 Newport, RI 02840-0987 Tel/Fax: 401 849 3805
QLuMSi
by Al Feng
QLuMSi/QL.using.M'cr°S*’ft.interface (yes, it's pronounced "clumsy")
is a front-end program, an MS-DOS simulation, and a learning tool.
QLuMSi is a TURBO-compiled program can be EXEC(_W)'d on any QL
which has TK2_EXTensions and is MINERVA and QXL/SMSQ compatible.
For individuals who move between QDOS and DOS, QLuMSi allows for a
smoother transition when invoking command line input -- QLuMSi will
convert the delimiter for you. Either an ‘underscore'/'_' (the
QDOS's standard delimiter) or a 'period'/'dot'/'.' (the standard
DOS delimiter) may be used within filenames.
For individuals whose spouse may not want to use their QL because
they use a DOS system at work, this allows them the comfort of the
standard prompts and commands. For example, typing "quill" at an
'A:\>' prompt will instruct your QL to "EXEC_W flpl_quill" and load
the Quill program if it is present on the disk in flpl_.
For individuials who are not familiar with "standard" DOS commands,
it gives them an opportunity to easily familiarize themselves while
allowing them to continue to use standard QL programs.
CHANGES FOR v4.70
The most prominent change for version 4.70 is in the DIRectory
displays.
An implicit '/p'( for “pause") is now presumed. In addition, the
standard DIR display now more closely matches the DOS display:
A:\> dir
Volume in drive A is @ PLATYPUS
Directory of A:\
Quill 60614 04-02-95 19:33
Archive 52814 04-02-95 19:33
misc ->
turbo ->
printer_dat 85 04-02-95 19:37
GPRINT_PRT 510 04-02-95 1 7
QLAMBer 32330 04-02-95 1 7
QLUSTer 32470 04-02-95 19:37
Press any key when ready
The number of files that are displayed on the screen is dependent
on whether the "banner" is displayed ("CLS" vs. "SHOW").
If you want the DIRectory of another PATH, then type:
DIR [path_letter]:
33
To see a DIRectory data displayed in four columns, type:
DIR /W
or, DIR ({path_letter]:/W
Extra spaces may return a "Bad command or file name" message.
COMMANDS
The following COMMANDs are supported (Typing "HELP" will display
this list):
cD \ CLS COPY DATE
DEL DIR FORMAT FREE
MEM PRINT RENAME STAT
TIME TYPE VER VIEW
'RD \' & 'MD \' are also supported.
Since 'MD \' accesses the MAKE_DIR keyword {QXL, (Super)GOLDCARD,
and FLP/RAM}, QLuMSi_COMn (i.e., COMn == common) is amongst the
versions provided for systems lacking the MAKE_DIR keyword. This
is also the only version included which supports mdv()_:
Y: == mdvl_ Z: == mdv2_
Typing "HELP ..." (where '...' is the name of a supported command)
will reveal more detailed information.
The COMMAND_COM program is the same as the "full" QLuMSi_COM
program except that it lacks the additional HELP beyond the HELP
screen which shows the COMMANDs and PATHs which are supported.
COMMAND_COM has the advantage of being "smaller" than the "full"
program. COMMAND EXE is the COMMAND_COM program which begins with
a 'C:\>!' prompt (i.e., 'winl_').
SBasic/MINERVA QUIRKs
Every attempt has been made to ensure QLuMSi compatibility with
the demands of the MINERVA ROM code as well as the variations
found in the SMSQ's SBasic code.
THE BOTTOM LINE
This remains as an UPDATE! issue disk (see back cover).
Previous users (direct(CATUG/ZQA! )/EMSoft/UPDATE!] may acquire an
upgrade from me ($5/specify disk size)
HAPPY TRAILS,
AND COMPUTING, TO YOU
34
News and Views on fhe QL by E.P. Wannum
Once again we find ourselves looking to see just what is new for the QL, as well
as why | firmly believe that it is a computer system well worth staying with and
expanding its capabilities. Take this as the straight skinny from someone who spends a
great deal of time listening to the problems of other people. | would not like to sound
like a commercial for a product, but "| have seen personal computers actually provide
therapy for many of the people that use them. This goes as well for hand and eye
co-ordination as well as the sense of mental accomplishment people can get by
mastering computers as a skill." The QL or QDOS sytem is great for this. With its builf-
in SuperBasic and an extendable operating system , it is a computer that can be easily
learned. Even better is the fact that you do not need to learn “all there is to learn" in
order fo start using it, even from SuperBasic programming. A few years back
mostcomputers (except IBM types) had Basic as a language built right in. Look around
and you see that is not the case now. The forms of Basic for the computers now are
something you buy separately and need several large tomes (books of learned lore) to
even start to come to grips with. | will grant you that the QL system is more difficult to
learn than say the TS1000, Spectrum or the TS2068; yet we have much more in the way
of mature software for those who just want to use it insfead of program it. For those
who want to program it we also have excellent software for that use. If you disagree
with this, alll can say is you have not paid attention to IQLR, UPDATE and the
Mechanical Affinity catalog. Check it out for yourself.
Now to bring you up to speed (some of you are probably already aware) on
things in the realm of the QL. For those who do not already know, DJC (Dilwyn Jones
Computing) the largest software retail house in the UK, is no longer in business. The
owner, Dilwyn, after much soul searching closed it down. Af the time of closure if was
at its busiest and most profitable he had seen. Lack of customers was not the reason.
Last year they suddenly lost their two year old child, and were very grieved by this.
They are once again trying fo bring a child into this world and wish to devote more
attention to this. The decision is quite personal and well within the reaim of their right to
decide. We wish them only the very best of luck in all future ventures in life. Dilwyn has
said he will not be totally absent from the QL scene.
The products that were carried by DJC have not been dropped by the wayside.
The CARE Electronics items of Tool Kit 2, QPAC1, QPAC2 and | presume QTYPE2 have
all been picked up by Miracle Systems of the UK. The Pointer Environment based
programs have mostly been picked up by Jochen Merz of Germany. A greai deal of the
rest of these programs have been picked up by Bruce Nichols of QREVIEW magazine.
A few of the not so popular programs have been placed into the public domain; if | find
out just which ones, | will try to tell you in a future column.
Now for the good part for those here in North and South America. Frank and Paul
of Mechanical Affinity in indiana, full knowing what was happening with DJC, fook the
time and invested a lot of money to stock up on a lot more of DJC software than usual.
They also added a dozen or so pieces of DJC software that they had not carried before.
They did this to increase the size of their business, offer you more titles, and to get
them at the old price, as they did not know if some of the prices by the new retailers
would increase or not. Frank is now slowly going about contacting some of the
software authors personally to see about directly carrying their software. | realize he is
35
a little cautious on this, as it does him and Paul no good to invest thousands of their
personal dollars in software and hardware that you, the customers do not buy. Give
fhem some support, so we can continue to see their presence.
! now shall try to do a number of mini-presentations on some of the new software
that Mechanical Affinity has taken on. Call Frank if you need more detailed information
ona particular item. First | will discuss some new items of entertainment.
The first item is THE OPEN GOLF, by Oliver Neef and Rich Mellor. If is a golf
playing simulation, with 50 courses. Each course has 18 holes. It runs on QL's with
384K of memory, disk based, and a color monitor is recommended. A nice item in this
game is that you can load an old high score table at the beginning of the game. At this
point you are offered the option of choosing which of the 50 golf courses you wish to
play upon. Throughout the game you have the choice of club to use. Try this for a bit of
relaxation and fun.
The next game is a text based adventure game called THE FUGITIVE. Do not
confuse this with the old '60s American TV show or the recent movie. The game was
designed by DI-REN. The scenario is“You are working for fhe British Embassy in
Russia. After several years a problem arises. It becomes essential you leave as quickly
as possible. You are -THE FUGITIVE!''The author says that the game has 140 different
locations and has been designed to be a complex adventure that will require a lot of
patience and thought. It has not been designed to be gimmicky or easy. Sounds like it
could be lots of fun and kill a lot of time.
The next is one that was formerly offered by Peter Hale of EMsoft, and written by
Robert Schubel. In fact | believe that DJC still had been obtaining these from Peter Hale.
It is called SOLITAIRE for the Sinclair QL. It will run on an unexpanded QL. If is not copy
protected, but if you are using the Minerva ROM trom version 1.92 on, use the Minerva
bodge on your Minerva disk. It is not an easily won game, so it will challenge you and
improve your skill.
The last of the new games Mechanical Affinity is offering is called GREY WOLF
and is a simulation of World War Two submarine warfare. It was written by Oliver Neef
and Rich Mellor. It needs a minimum of 256K of memory and an 85 column screen,
RGB. In this game you are a WW2 German commander and are fighting the Allies in
the year 1943 in the North Atlantic. It is possible if you do not like this scenario to
pretend that the "baddies" are other than the allies. As the author was German, it was
written from his perspective. All in all, it is a good war simulation. | had not done a war
simulation since Sharps "War In The East"of years ago.
Now for fhe more serious, or utility side of the new software Mechanical Affinity
is offering.
They have brought in more clipart to be used in art, CAD and DTP programs. One
set is three disks of imported (from other computer systems), compressed clipart
specially tor LineDesign. Some of it is even double-compressed. This has hundreds of
more screens that you can easily put fo use.
The next clipart collection newly oftered is the seven disk set of
FAMILY/RELIGIOUS CLIPART. Frank says they had several requests for a collection
just like this. It should be great for the children, or to do up a bulletin or brochure for
your church group. They can also be used in any one of the major DTP programs, as
well as LineDesign.
The last new addition for clipart is called MINICLIPS. These are small pieces of
36
clipart that you can use in newsletters, brochures, posters, banners, ele. A lot of what
has previously been available was larger than you needed for some uses. This helps fill
this previously empty space in your set of software fools.
For those looking for utilities that they can use in an unexpanded microdrive
based QL, they now have MDV TOOLKIT. This is a collection of SuperBasic extras
concerned with the reading and writing of microdrive sectors, HEX and ASCII displays
like in machine code monitors, and memory and sector editors. If has a large manual
(disk file) that can be read on screen at any time.
Also new to their inventory is FILEMASTER by Joe Hafke. It is a file handling
utility that will give you: batch copying of files, batch deletion of files, ordered directory
(printed fo screen or printer), formatting, view or print files, and simple, fast disk
labeling. It needs at least 256K extra memory and a RAMdisk system.
The next one | want to mention is one | found extremely useful (I have nof tried all
of those | am mentioning, some | only loaded up and looked at the manuals) when it
came fo transferring and setting up of programs on my two hard drive systems. | use
both the Falkenberg and the QUBIDE disk drive interfaces. Both are on Super Gold
Cards. This is an easy to use utility, pointer driven, to make QL software run from the
hard disk and from subdirectories. It will also work for on disk driven systems. If you
use ED disks and want several programs on a single disk, all with their own directories
and subdirectories, then this will cut way down on the work needed to do this. It can
even work with older software like QUILL or EXchange. | am also fold that it will work
with the Miracle Hard Drive System of a few years ago. It does require expanded
memory, and will work with the Gold Card or Trump Card with the FLP/Level 2 RAM
eprom, as well as the Super Gold Card.
An updated version of SIDEWRITER is now in their inventory. It is a spreadsheet
and text file printing utility. It has simple pointer driven operation, yet if can be used on
the unexpanded QL by simple keyboard operation.
THE PAINTER from PROGS of Belgium is now back in stock. It is a nitty pointer
driven art program that is perhaps the best so far for the QL. If you have added a
mouse over the last year or so, this is the program that really puts it fo use. | just
upgraded my version of this program.
One program they have new that | was unable to see how if worked was RPM, an
EPROM programming utility for the QL. As | do not have an EPROM programmer, all 1
could do was read the manual. For those with a programmer it looks to be quite useful
to design and check fo see if a certain program on EPROM would work prior fo burning.
Next to last of the new programs was SCREEN ECONOMISER, a screen blanking
utility. It will turn off fhe screen display on your QL after a set number of minutes if no
keyboard use is detected. Without a blanking utility like this you run the risk that when
a monitor is left on for a long time with no screen movement that you will end up with
burn points on your screen. This is the destruction of the phosphor pixels used to coat
the screen.
The very last of the new programs | had fime to check out at least some, was
SCREEN DAZZLER by Bruce Nichols. This is another screen saver program, but witha
few twists. It is a two disk set that will automatically save the current QL screen display
if no key has been pressed within a set (configurable by you) period of time. It will then
release a program that will either manipulate the screen, or produce a new graphical
display so as fo prevent a stationary image from burning spots on your screen.
37
HARDWARE FOR YOUR QL by Roy Arwood
In a recent trip to the States | found that we have much the same things in common
when it comes to the types of hardware we should be keeping our eyes out for. With many of
the new and exciting things coming up for the QL, we can tend to overlook those we have
taken for granted.
Check your local telly and you just seldom see ads for upcoming computer shows.
There are not as many of them going on for the hobby user as there was 5 to 10 years ago.
Check with your chums on that and see if they don't agree. That used to be the places many of
us went to find disk drives, monitors, cases, etc. Instead we have many more professional
shows that expect you to spend thousands for a Pentium or a full blown Mac with thousands
more for a full complement of software. | want to still use my QL, | rather am fond of it, and it
does the trick for me.
Take a good look around and you will notice that RGB monitors are about as rare as
hens teeth, or even composite ones. | realize that we should soon (hope!) have a Graphics
card out from our friends at Miracle, but that will leave us only VGA and SVGA monitors, and
they do cost more. If you are not planning to go that route, then the next time you get a chance
to buy an RGB, you best do so! Should you have trouble getting it hooked up to your QL,
check with QUANTA, or TF Services BBS here in the UK, or with T/SNUG or the QBOX BBS in
the States. They should be of help. Perhaps even your local QL fixer, or QL club.
Another scarce item these days is ED drives. Many of us have gone the way of the Gold
Card and the Super Gold Card, which lets us use the ED drives to get 3.2 meg of data ona 3.5
disk. This is great, but all of the local computer magazines that had plenty of ED drives for sale
in them a year ago have dried up. The mags are still there, but no ED drives, or their disks
listed. If you have thought of getting one, or a spare, you best get one the next chance you get.
And if you have them, then by all means buy up a goodly supply of disks for them.
While on the subject of disk drives and hard to find items, here in the UK we never quite
got into the 360K disk drives (720 sectors) that used to be so popular in the West; instead we
went with a 5.25 720K disk drive (1440 sectors). For years that was the standard on the QL.
No one ever gave us a bit of hardware that would let us use 5.25 1.2 meg disks on our QLs.
Well take a look around. These are also more than a bit hard to find. Should you find a new
one, snatch it up for a spare or to use. A good used one is also a good idea. See Dennis at Ad-
man for one or information about. Get on TF Services or a similar BBS and put out the word on
what you want. Get them while you can. | saw in the States during my visit that many users
there also used these disks as well as 3.5 on the QL. Frank at Mechanical Affinity, told me he
carried some, but that Classic Computers, a repair facility in the Midwest had a bunch of them.
The subject of disk drives leads to another quite close. To use disk drives with our QLs
you need an external case with a separate power supply. They can not just lay on the table
and work. These foo are on the endangered species list for the Continent, UK and the West.
Should you want to, you could go the route of many and put your machine in an IBM tower or
desk top case. Or you might just buy up a spare external disk drive case. These will both work.
Frank Davis recently showed me on my visit, his own little use, done quite well and on the
cheap. He took a desk top IBM case. He put 4 disk drives inside it (using its power and drive
holders) and ran the disk drive cable out from it to his Super Gold Card. He also put his moni-
tor on top of it. The last bit of work on it was that he used its power, IDE connector and holding
slot to put his IDE hard drive, and once again brought the cable out to his QL using Qubide.
| hope these observations are of help. Let me know if you want more. Bye, bye.
38
Machine States
One of the interesting features of the Z88 is its ability to selectively shut down parts of
the internal circuitry when it is not required and thus maximise battery life. There are
four operational states:
1) Active The Z80 clock is running and the display is on. ie. the Z80
running program instructions.
2) Snooze The Z80 clock stopped but the display still on. eg. the
288 waiting for keyboard input. This state can be
achieved by executing a ‘T instruction. (This
must only be done by the operating system, never
by the user.)
3)Doze: The Z80 clock running and the display off. eg.
programming an EPROM.
4) Coma: The Z80 clock stopped and the LCD display off. eg. 288
shut down.
The maskable interupt, INTL, is used by the BLINK chip to attract the processor's
attention. The Z80 will read the interupt register in BLINK to determine the source.
There are rwo other cause of INTL which are to indicate battery low condition and a
keyboard scan request.
The non-maskable interupt, NMIL, this interupt will cause the machine to enter the
coma state, by saving the current state of the machine and then executing a HALT
instruction. NMIL is generated by when the timeout counter in BLINK (as set by the
Panel) expires, when the the flap at the front of the machine is opened, or when in
response to the SNSL signal. The SNSL signal flags a power failure or the plugging in
of a memory card or device on the expansion port.
The RSTL usually needs to be pulled low twice. The first action starts the processor
clock if, as is the case most of the time, the machine is in the snooze (or even coma)
state and the second which actually initiates the reset process. The BLINK one is also
reset by this line. The reset button on the side of the machine simply brings RSTL low,
and subsequently the button generally needs to be pressed twice.
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The Serial Interface
The Z88 has a single serial port which has to be shared by all applications, so itis
important that applications use the system to access the port to avoid interfering with the
correct operation of other applications running in the machine. The system runs the
serial port using interupts and buffering, so most of its operation is tansparent,but
there are certain operations, such as directly controlling the RTS line (required for auto-
dialling by some modems), which the system calls do not support and in these cases the
hardware is accessed more directly (see section 2.19) The serial port specification is
reproduced here for convenience:
Baud rates: 75, 300, 600, 1200, 2400, 9600, 19200, 38400
Send and receive rates are independent.
Parity: None, Odd, Even, Mark, Space
Note the Z88 generates the appropniate parity, but will
ignore, but not strip, the parity of incoming data.
Flow contol: Hardware handshaking or XON/XOFF.
Timeout This defaults to 10 minutes, (ie. the Z88 will wait
for input for 10 minutes before giving up.)
Using the Serial Port
The serial port is accessed by opening the device :COM, using gn_opf, and then using
the standard file i/o routines: gn_gb, gn_pb, gn_gbt, gn_pbt and os_mv. The device
should be closed after the operation is complete. For most applications this level of
access should be sufficent, however, it may be necessary to change the serial port
parameters from within an application. This is done by writing new values to the Panel,
using the os_sp call, and then issuing a ‘Soft Reset’ command to the serial driver.
Changing the Panel setting may affect other software in the machine, so should not be
undertaken lightly. It would be appropriate to reset the Panel to its original setting after
serial operations are complete. This can be achieved by first reading the Panel settings
with os_nq. os_sp and os_nq are covered in detail in section 2.18.
The ‘Soft Reset’ operation is carried out by using the os_si call. This call also provides
other serial operations, which might be useful for some applications.
os_si - serial interface
RST &20
DEFB &&D
In:
L - reason code
The reason codes are as follows:
SIHRD (&00) Hard reset the serial port
SLSFT (&03) Soft reset the serial port
SLINT (&06) Interupt entry point. DO NOT USE!
SILGBT (&09) Get byte from serial port
SI.PBT (&0C) Put byte to serial port
SILENQ (&0F) Status enquiry
SLFTX (&12) Flush Tx (transmit) buffer
SLFRX (&15) Flush Rx (receive) buffer
SLTMO (&18) Set timeout
SLHRD
40
No parameters. This resets the UART in the gate array and performs a soft reset (see
below). This call should not need to be used.
AFBCDEHL/IXTY same
Feb Binstsenenttsged different
afocdehl different
SILSFT
No parameters. This call should be used to install new panel settings or to when starting
low level (ie, using SILGBT, SI.PBT etc.) serial operations, It carnes out the
following:
1- Empty receive and transmit buffers
2- Reset the XON and XOFF flags
3- Reset baud rates, parity and flow control settings according to the PANEL values.
4- Assert RTS
S- Resets the serial port timeout to its default of 10 minutes.
SLINT
This should not be used.
SI.GBT - Get byte from serial port
In:
BC - timeout in centiseconds
Outif call succeeded:
Fe=0
A - byte received
BC - remaining time
Out if call failed:
Fe=1
A-RC.TIME (if no data available before timeout)
.s BCDEHL/IXTY same
ARR ah 8 os fses different
afbedehl different
SI.PBT - Put byte to serial port
In:
A - byte to send
BC - timeout in centiseconds. If BC=&FFFF then default timeout is used.
Out if call succeeded:
Fe=0
BC. remaining time
Out if call failed:
Fe=1
A-RC.TIME
41
The Serial Interface
...BCDEHL/AXIY same
ARS nscsd Hekce different
afbcdeh! different
This call will return immediately if there is space in the transmit buffer, otherwise it will
wait until there is space for as long as the timeout. If the timeout is exceeded it will
return with an error.
SLENQ - Status enquiry
In:
Out if call succeeded:
D - number of full slots in the Tx (ansmit) buffer
E - number of empty slots in the Tx (transmit) buffer
B - number of full slots in Rx (receive) buffer
C - number of empty slots in Rx (receive) buffer
AT7- Rx shift register full
A6- DCD interupt
AS - CTS interupt
A4- Tx register empty
A3 - undefined
A2- Rx register full
Al - DCD level (inverse of the value on the D-connector)
AO- CTS level (inverse of the value on the D-connector)
abate HL/IXTY same
AFBCDE..../...... different
afbcdehl different
Notes:
A slot, in this context, is the set of bits required to transmit one character. This will
include 8 data bits plus start and stop bits.
SLFTX - Flush transmit buffer
Tn:
Out:
Fe=0
AFBCDEHL/IXTY same
Spsacceamuhead | Bae different
afbcdehl different
42
Fe=0
AFBCDEHL/IXTY same
iantia ener sites different
afbedehl different
SI.TMO - set default timeout
In:
BC- new value for default imeout
Our
Fe=0
AFBCDEHL/IXTY same
afbcdehl different
Tf you set the default to &FFFF then when the defualt is used (by setting a timeout
value of &FFFF in get and put routines) then the system will wait forever. A soft reset
sets the default imeout to 10 minutes. This timeout is completely independent of the
system timeout, which is set by the Panel.
Flow Control
Flow control can be controlled either by software or hardware. The hardware
handshaking is always active, so if you want to use software exclusively you will need
to wire a cable to set the handshaking lines high at all times. (Tie pins 5, 8 and 9
together on the 288 D-connector.)
An extemal device can ask the Z88 to stop sending by either sending an XOFF
character or by de-asserting (bringing low) the CTS line. With software flow control
transmission can only stop when the XOFF character has been processed, so there is
potentially a slight delay in response, while previously sent characters are read. With
hardware control transmission stop on the next character boundary. Transmission is
resumed on the recipt of an XON character, in the case of software control, or be re-
asserting CTS ie. bringing it high. The output buffer is around 95 bytes long.
If software control is used the Z88 will send an XOFF to an external device once the
receive buffer is more than half full. Characters will continue to be received until there
are only 15 character spaces left in the buffer. At this point an XOFF will be sent for
every character subsequently sent by the external device. Lf the receive buffer overflows
then data is lost forever. The Z88 will send an XON when the receive buffer has been
cleared to léss than a quarter full. Under hardware control, the Z88 will de-assert (bring
low) RTS when the receive buffer is less than half full and the re-assert (bring high)
when it has become less than a quarter full. The input buffer is around 127 bytes long.
Serial Port Lines
unswitched +5v at 10 uA output
L-
2TxD transmit data output
3. RxD receive data input
4RTS ready to send output
5 CTS clear to send input
6- reserved for future use
7GND
8 DCD data carrier detect input
9DTR switched +5v at lmA output
43
WHERE ELSE IN THE WORLD?
WHEN YOU WANT TO KNOW WHERE CAN YOU FIND A
CERTAIN ITEM OF SOFTWARE OR HARDWARE FOR YOUR QL,
WHERE DO YOU GO? WHEN YOU HAVE A BASIC QUESTION
ON YOUR Z88 ON HOW TO HOOK IT UP TO ANOTHER TYPE
OF COMPUTER? HOW TO MAKE A CABLE FOR IT? WHERE DO
YOU GO? WHERE DO YOU FIND PUBLICATIONS THAT WILL
a
Tete
SUPPORT YOUR COMPUTERS? SO MANY QUESTIONS: FIND
THE ANSWERS FROM UPDATE MAGAZINE, P.O. BOX 17,
MEXICO, IN 465958.
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44
TIMEX PUBLICATION INDEX, part 3, by Paul Holmgren
HIGHWAY ROBBERY
SYN 41
HERES
Sum 310 2068
SWN 32 2068 Pix-Fix
" 33 1500
"34 1500
"42 1000
TD 14 see Pablo PixelO
"34 1000, Blackjack ptl
Hae "pe
ae a > » pe
HORIZONTAL BAR CHART
TD 45 2068
1000 fix
patch
2068 trick
patch 1000 & MEMOTECH CIF
HOUSE OF HORRORS
SYN 25 ZX80
HOW MANY BLOCKS
SYN 25 for kids
HURKLE
SYN 1-1 ZX80
"95 8K update
INTERP
SYN 31. interpreter
INTERRUPTS
SWN 36 1000
INVADERS
SYN 24 ZX80-Galaxy, ZX81-Micro
INVENTORY
Sum 47
SYN 16 ZX80/ZX81
i 21 i fix (2)
" 22 fix for above
"94 noe
26 mod for above
soft game
soft
soft
soft
soft game
soft game
soft game
soft
soft
YO PORTS)
SWN 14 1000 paging control
" 22 " LEDs
SYN 16 ZX80
3-2 using Byte Back BB-1
ports, add counter
4-1 connect a BSR X-10
article, 1000
4 port expansion decoder 1000
"933. possible 1500 bug
TSH #1 Repeat Key
"#2 Reset Switch
#14 wire for 1000
| * #15 mods
"#18. Extra Shifted keys
TSU 15 1000 & joystick
A pata (tara Ae
KEYBOARD
SYN 14 MC scanning ZX80
. io. 8 ag
"26 keyboard learning game
"341 MC scan keyboard
" 34 add joystick 1000
Nae a, TER
45
TSU 17 1000 contol card
JOYSTICK
TMZ 366 2068
KALEIDOSCOPE
TD 31 1000
TSU 16 1000
KEYBOARD
Sum 3-7 fix 2068
* 39° interface & add 2068
"41 mods
" 45 mods
SWN 1-1 1000 add joystick
"1-9" bug alert
"14 1000 add joystick
" 26 TI99 mods
" 35 8 8
" 43 Kempstonize 2068
SYN 13. key click
" 23 2 switch for disabled, add keyboard
" 25 repeat key option
" 31 strong signals
"41 add full size
TD 24 joystick, adapt TI99 keyboard
" 25 external buffer 1000
"26 onekey mods
" 32 Sinclair to 2068 mods
" 3-5 for the 1500
TMZ 101 Trakball 2068
hard
soft
soft
hard
soft
TD 14 2068, joystick & MC
* 16 BASIC stick control
"29 stick algorithm
KINGDOM
TSU 14 1000
"4S "fix
KNIGHTS MOVE
TSU 1-2 1000
KNIGHTS TOUR
SYN 4-2
KNITTING
SWN 54 1000/2068
LABEL
SWN 42 2068 label maker
TD 22 make
"25 Video tape
TMZ 133. tape labels 2060
"166 " * 1000/1500
"193 big printer
"278 mailing labels
TSH #17 make
"#18 mods for #17
LANDER
TSU 1-7 1000
LASER CANNON
TSU 12 1000
LEMONADE
TSU 1-1 1000
LETTER SCRAMBLE
SWN 55 1000, 2068
SYN 1-2 ZX80
14 fix for above
21 ZX80 MC version
22 fix for above
23 7 8 8
LIGHT SHOW
TD 26 2068
soft game
soft game
soft game
soft
soft
soft game
soft game
soft game
soft game
soft game
soft
LIST LEARNING
SYN 25 education
ie 26 fix for above
LIST SCANNER
SWN 1-5 originally for 1000
LIST, ADDRESS/PHONE
TMZ 113 2068 names & numbers
TSH #8 1000
LLIST
TMZ 267 format LLIST
"13 good 1000 tips
"14 aid circuits load amp
"23 Fix 2068
"95 9" * toad amp
" 96 " * diodes
"31 ed ee "clearer
" 35 * "notes
" 36 1500 & Z-XLRB
SYN 1-1 LED load monitor
a cpg ica ke Xe
"341 program LOAD function
TD 23 add amp
TMZ 128 2020 recorder, hearing aid
TSH #3 Load Aid
SWN 22 1000 & recover bad load
"42 2068 SAVE vars trick
SYN 1.5 ZX80 MC load/save blocks
"31 Multisave, backup MC pro
" 32 fix for above
ecsig lean 8
steer ca ay Ue
LOADSAVE/VERIFY
SWN 53 loading test
TD 45 2068 Turbo loader
TMZ 339 1000 verify
"355 8 fix
"455 load/save all progs
LOLLIPOPS
TD 23 fix for 22
LONDON BRIDGE
TSU 1-1 1000
soft
soft
soft
soft
hard
soft
soft
soft game
soft game
LOTTO
SWN 33 2068 pick no.s
TD
LUNAR LANDER
SYN
MACRO PHOTO
SYN
MAGIC BIRTH DAY SQUARE
36
21
soft
generate numbers
. *
soft
soft
soft game
26 mods
32
soft
soft game
TMZ 293 2068 lucky no.
MANDELPLOT
SWN
35
42
soft
1000,1500 math art
mods
soft
soft game
SYN 1-3 ZX80
31
MATH
SWN
Sum
SWN
53
8K update
soft
1000 geometry plotter, MULTIPLICATION
TUTOR
primes
soft
accuracy for 1000
Tutor, func Graph 1000
Simulate linear equation 1000, using same in
electronics
Development prog, Algebra, convert
Polar/Rectangular
Integration, Polynomials Integration, RMs,
Arbitrary functions
differentiation
Dec - Hex 2068
Tribase
* 35 Mandelplot, math art
"42 Advanced calculator
SYN 1-1 Multiplication tables
1-2 fix for above BOTH ZX80
14 bisection iteration
15 prime numbers
-1 floating point math, linear regression
2-2 floating point pt 2
23 least squares
24 2 to the 420th power, floating point pt 3
25 math with a emile, Quiz, implicit func, Degrees
Grads, Radians, rounding
3-2 rounding mods, math support
"34 fix for 3-2
TD 22 Linear programming
TMZ 47 precision tests
" 188 cancellations
"192 Dec to Frac
" 207°" * Bin
* 210 Dec HEX BIN table
TSH #1 Simulate Liner Equation 1000
" #2 Matrix Inversion 1000
" #3 Diff Equations 1000, Simpson's Rule 1000
" #5 Least Squares 1000
" #6 Linear Boundary Value
"#19 Quadratic Equations
TSU 14 Flash cards
"15 Kwikplot
MAZE soft game
SYN 16 ZX80
MC IN HIGH MEMORY hard
SWN 25 MemoTech 64K mods, Byte-Back 64K mods
" 35 fix for above
MC TUTOR soft
SWN 21 1000 pt I (progtop)
22 " "9 (renum), good writing practices
23 1000 pt3 (fun)
94" 4 (block delete)
25 * "5 (find line), LDIR routines (move it)
26 1000 pt6 (renum aid?)
33" "7, list & guides
35 "4 revised
8 (MEGA-REM)
41 " 9 (math)
42 * "10 (when, why)
43 GO TO/GO SUB
44 decisions
46 FOR..NEXT
51 PEEK/POKE
54 1000/2068
intro to MC
22 Safe MC routines ZX80
23 ROM calls (Parser) pt |
ROM calls (Parser) pt 2
25 ROM calls (Parser) pt 3, Block transfers pt 1,
" 36 18
‘
z
side scrolling * #19 Hunter board mods, DIY Spectrum ROM add
"26 fix for above, block transfers pt 2, move variables TSU 1-7 build 64K for 1000
" 31 easy as 242
" 32 fix for move variables, looping
"34 MC & screen MEMORY MAP soft
"36 " "fix TD 35 for 150
" 41 bit testing oi) cae
TD 23 Beginning 280 MC ptl
" 24 pt?
"25 "3 MEMORY TRACE soft
" 26 74 TD 346 2068 using Z80 IM2
"381 "5
er a
. 330¢°7 MEMOTECH 1000 hard
" 34 °8 SWN 1-1 CPI bug?
" 35 "9 "12" * &64K
> 36 ° 10 "14 * LPRINT, examine memotext, other 64Ks,
= 41 "Hl "45 11 & 1-2 add report
"43" 19 (end), & part of 9? * 99 convert Mtext to tape
TMZ 42 undoc instructions " 26 make 2040 & 16K work
"962 totally safe storage SYN 34 HRG & demo program
TSH 21 totally safe storage
TSU 16 &7, see Programming game
MENU soft
TD 25 Mac type menu
MEDCARE soft " 43 2068 drop down menus
Sum 46 2068 medical records TMZ 116 for 1000
MEMORY soft MERGE 1000 soft
SWN 1-2 savings TSU 15
SYN 12 Memory display ZX80
. 13 * "fix
34 adjust RAMTOP METEORS soft game
" 35 save program memory SYN 42
"492 way BASIC is stored, using extra memory,
ROM & RAM addressing
TD 24 savings MICROACE hard
TMZ 17 RAM test SYN 1-1 build, LED load monitor
" 222 memory map " 12 fix for above, add 8K ROM
" 03 fe "8
* 25 hardware tips
MEMORY ADDS hard
SWN 23° Oliger 64K to 2068
" 26 Gladstone 64K mods MINI-BILLBOARD soft
" 33 mod 16K to 8-16 range SYN 14 ZX80
" 35 fix for above * 15 " with 8K ROM, fix for above
" 41 add NVM to 1000 "21 fix for above
SYN 16 ZX80
"24 ZX81
" 31 ZX80 MINIBREAKOUT soft game
" 34 2K to 4K TSU 1-7 1000
" 42° rescue RAM
" 43 MemoTech 64K to 2068
TD 26 convert 16K to 64K 1 MINOTAUR soft game
‘i BL " Be ee 2 SYN 32
" 34 internal 64K for 1000 * 33 fix for above
is 36 add 64K inside 1000 " 34 tips
TMZ 76 Cheetah 64K mods TSU 14 1000
"144 AERCO & Spectrum ROM, convert 1016 to 64K
TSH #14 16K to 2068
48
MONEY soft
SYN 1-1 ZX80 Dollars & cents, Basic accounting
"1-3 fix for above
"31 Personal management sys, checkbook
magement sys, loan amortization,
"34 " "mods
" 36 figure loans
" 41 Tax shelter ame bomb, hatch your nest egg
"4-2 fix for tax shelter
TD 1-3 total cost of loans
" 21° Interest
"32> see Tax calculator
* 34° car cost analyzer
"$2 Loan Analyzer
TMZ 79 2068 loan amortization
" 192 make coin rollers
TSH #2 Rule of 78
"#16 Quick - Balance 1000
MONITOR CIRCUIT hard
Sum 35 convert tv
"37 convert 1000
SWN 1-5 convert 1000 & tv
"21 total video upgrade |
"99 " #8 "9
" 3-5 reverse video & 1500
" 36 poss fix for 2068, 1000 video upgrade update
’ 56 TS1500 w TTL
SYN 1-2 reverse/direct vid ZX80
"15 " "fx
"146 fix for above
"21 inverse video
"31 add UHF
“34 mod for 1000
° 35 a LAN Hise
TD 146 convert for 1500
ut 44 1000
MORSE CODE soft
SWN 4-3 using sound
MOTORCYCLE RACE soft game
SYN 1-5 ZX80, & fix
MOUSE hard
TD 22 use mouse with Tech Draw
MULTIPLICATION BINGO soft game
SYN 14 ZX80
MULTITASKING soft
TMZ 268 2068 using mode 2
277°" correction tps
MULT STEPS
SWN 46
MUSIC
Sum 311
SWN 36
"4d
TSU 1-1
"13
” 17
soft game
math game
soft
Santa 2068
2068 Music Maker
2068 piano
with ZX80
mods
with ZX80
see Audisyn Definag, Staff
Simply Music
2068
MoTSart for 1000/1500
synchronize
2068 Xmas
Star Spangled Banner
Christmas
Xmas Music
1000
Note tester 1000
Maker 1000
MYSTERY PROGRAM soft
SWN 45
"51
M*5
SWN 46
NATIONAL LANDMARK
SWN 56
22, for 1000, nol
22, for 1000, no2
soft game
astronomy tutor
soft game
2068
NEW CAR SHOPPER soft
TD 34 2068
NICOMACUS
ZX80
SYN Ll
soft game
"12 fx
" 95 8K update
NIM
soft game
SWN 1-1 1000
NOTE PAD
soft
TMZ 409 2068
NUMBER BASE CONVERTER soft
TD 34
NUMBER MADNESS
TD 33 1000
OB)
SYN 1-3 ZX80 disassemble ROM?
"16 fix for above
OBSTACLE RUN
TD 21 2068
OHMS LAW
SYN 25
OP-AMP
TD 43. 1000, design cirs
PABLO PIXELO
TD 146 hires to printer, 1000 & 2068
PARADOX OF THE TWINS
TSU 17 1000
PAYROLL
SYN 32
" 34 fix for above
" 35 changes
fix for above
1000
PHONE HOME
TD 45 1000, words from phone no.
PIGSKIN PICKS
TD 31 try predict game winners
PLOTTER
Sum 43
PLOT 1000
SWN 1-1. Greyplot, dual display, TriPlot
* 1.2 Greyplot improvements
POKER
TD 45 2068
soft game
soft
soft game
soft
soft
soft
soft game
soft
soft game
soft
soft
hard soft
soft
soft game
PRINTER INTERFACE
Sum
SWN
SYN
TD
TMZ
PRINT DRIVER
SWN
PROBABILITY
TSU
PROGRAMMING CONCEPTS
TD
31
32
33
51
14
23
24
266
286
1:3
11
32
33
34
35
hard
2068
1000 U.P.S. & heat
adds
affecting screen
Micro juice
mod to clean video
regulated voltage adapt.
1000 U.P.S.
* protection
build a CPI 2068 pt 1
build a CPI 2068 pt 2
build a CPI 2068 pt 3
‘JLO CPI & MSCRPT
CPI for ZX80
CPI & Tasprint, 2050 to RS232
AERCO & TXP-1000
CPI interface tips
convert 2050 to RS232
soft
1000 pt!
" UPD, customize graphics, EPROM notes,
relocate
UPD extra patch
word wrap utility
inkjet plotting
Spectrumized 2068
word wrap in BASIC for text
serial port driver
print sideways
1000
soft
1000, better basic
" noon
examine why a prog works
PROGRAMMING GAMES, soft
* "3, fix for pt I
PROGRAM CRASHING soft
SWN
41
screen crash effect 1000
PRO/FILE TIPS soft
SWN
21
convert Memotext file to PRO (1000)
hard soft
soft game
* TS2068 UPDATE ISSUE DISKS *
These disks contain a program, suite of programs, or a set of utilities that have either been
presented in UPDATE, or sponsored by. This is done in the hopes of encouraging and sponsoring the
authoring of TS2068 or Spectrum software by North and South American programmers. They are
guaranteed fo be worth the money. At times vacant space left on these disks is also filled with particularly
appealing Public Domain or Shareware programs for the TS2068 or Spectrum. We also welcome
programs from our other readers anywhere in the world. We support at this time Larken and Oliger disk
formats for the TS2068. Contact us for other formats. Please let us know what size, interface format and
density of disk you wish the program in. Half of the funds received go to the author of the program
Please feel free to offer a program for inclusion in our Issue Disk Series
1) THE JOHN McMICHAEL GRAPHICS COLLECTION- This is a six disk set of IBM clip art graphics
converted for use with Print Factory, the desk top publishing program for the TS2068. Can also be used
with Pixel Print, by Lemke. They are offered in Larken and in Oliger disk format. Each disk is $7, or $40
for the entire collection. The best ever for the TS2068
2) LOGICALL PROFESSIONAL V5.2- This is the Auxiliary Operating System and Integrated Software
Package tha! completes your Larken multi-drive system. If allows you to move in and out, and around
your system and programs with usually two keystrokes or less. No need to turn off your machine. The
best Larken improvement yet. Soon to be available for the Oliger sytem. Authored by Bob Swoger. $15
for the program
3) THE WIDJUP COLLECTION- This contains some of the most popular programs formerly offered by
WIDJUP. They are not Public Domain, all were commercial and given to UPDATE for distribution by Bill
Pedersen with his passing. This is a two disk set, and does not contain his CAD program. It has editors,
printer drivers, games, TS2068 tutorials, etc. In Oliger or Larken format. Priced at $20.
4) WIDJUP'S CAD PROGRAM- This is a long time favorite for Larken and Oliger users. It will give you
professional results from your TS2068 in the area of computer aided design and the development of
printed circuit boards. Bill used to even use it fo make disk labels and DTP. Let us know which format and
whether it is for either an IBM compatible printer or an Olivetti Inkjet printer. The price is $20.
5) OLIGER DISK DRIVE BBS PROGRAM. This will create a single user BBS program, with several
message bases, E-mail, and SYSOP chat area. The rest of this disk is chocked full of other programs
either by, or enhanced by, Paul Holmgren (program author). In Oliger format only. The price is $20.
6) 24-PIN BIT IMAGE GRAPHICS FOR 24 PIN OR BUBBLE JET PRINTERS: This program, by Larry
Crawford, is for Epson emulation modes on your printer. It takes the mystery out of graphics when used
with some of the newer printers out there on the market. We have also included some extra software with
this one, and all of this for $15. It is availabie in either Larken or Oliger format disks
Needless fo say we are always interested in a new issue disk we can present here for our readers. If you
are out there writing programs, or know someone who is, give us a chance to present your software to
the users, and perhaps make a bit of change in the bargain. This way we all win. We make royalty
payments twice a year based upon the sales. Sales are not guaranteed, but we do our best!
“QL UPDATE ISSUE DISKS *
These disks contain a program, suite of programs, or a set of ulilities that have either been
presented in UPDATE, or sponsored by. This is done in the hopes of encouraging and sponsoring the
authoring of QL programming by North and South American programmers. They are guaranteed to be
worth the money. Af times vacant space on these disks is also filled with particularly appealing Public
Domain or Shareware programs for the QL. We support all know disk formats for the QL. Please let us
know what format you wish yours in when you order. The prices are as listed and do already include
postage and handling. Half of the funds received go fo the author. Please feel free to offer a program for
inclusion in our Issue Disk Series
1) HARTUNG UTILITY ISSUE DISK- Here we have some excellent programs for the QL, such as
a stand alone database, an Address and QSO file program, etc. it also gives lots of programming hints
and fips for QL programmers. All are in SuperBasic. The Address file can also be used as an inventory
program, or use if fo print out labels. Both screen and printer output can be alpha-sorted, or done by last
name. The price is $15.
2) CABLE ARCHIVE ISSUE DISK- Written by Bill Cable, perhaps Americas best known
programmer for Archive. Contains many useful ARCHIVE programs that work on any Archive database.
Titles include: DIR (directory within Archive}, SCAN (quick database display and print), FREQ (frequency
distribution of a field), SPLIT (split 1 dafabase display and print), JOIN (join 2 databases into 1), REFIELD
(redefine field names), REPLACE (replace text within a database), MATCHER (find dupes within a
database), WINDEX (word index any text file), GROUP 1 to 3 (useful procedures from UPDATE articles),
QUERY (interrogate any database). Also includes extensive DOC files about fhe programs and
ARCHIVE in general. Commercial Quality! The price is $20.
3) QLUSTER 58109 ISSUE DISK- A great program from Al Feng to provide you with many
utilities to handle and unclutter your disks and MDVs (and it now supports sub-directories such as in
Level 2 devices such as FLP LEVEL 2 ROM for Trump Cards and Gold Cards). Some of the features
concern COPY, DELETE, FORMAT, VIEW, as weil as exiended use of some of the TK2 commands (TK2
needed for this program). The program is TURBO compiled for a speedy program. It is MINERVA
compatible, multi-tasks, and allows you to use minimal keypresses to do the job. The price is $15.
4) QLuMSI DOS 4.30 ISSUE DISK- The latest version of Al Fengs extensively updated MSDOS
simulator (not emulator) and front end program for the QL. Other programs on the disk enhance file
management and cloning of other programs. Educational and useful. The price is $20
5) QLAMBer ISSUE DISK- Al Fengs latest issue disk and it is even compatible with the QXL now!
He calls it A_Moving_Box/enhancedrelease! This greatly extends the selective file management
capabilities of the QLUTter program by additionally accessing six TK2 keywords, while reducing CODE
size, easily supports sub-directory access, and easily multi-tasks within QRAM or Taskmaster. TK2 must
be on ROM or loaded prior to start up of program. The price is now $20.
6) COMMS & COMPRESSION COLLECTION- Eliad Wannums collection of the best P.D. and
shareware fax, telecommunications, and file compression and decompression programs available for the
QL. This is a four disk set that is extremely useful, and all the disks are fairly loaded. The price is $20.
Live Music
Archive
Librivox
Free Audio
Metropolitan Museum
Cleveland
Museum of Art
Internet
Arcade
Console Living Room
Open Library
American
Libraries
TV News
Understanding
9/11